Nullification
by Rurouni Tyriel
Summary: (COMPLETED) The X-Men wake up one day to find themselves no longer mutants. How will they cope, and will they ultimately enjoy it? And worse, how will they deal with a new threat that arises when they are as normal as everyone else around them?
1. I

**Disclaimer:**

I don't own X-Men Evolution, though I wish I did.

**Summary:**

The X-Men wake up one day to find themselves no longer mutants.  How will they cope, and will they ultimately enjoy it?  And worse, how will they deal with a new threat that arises when they are as normal as everyone else around them?  This takes place right after X23 but prior to Dark Horizons.

It was a restless night at the Xavier Institute for Gifted Youngsters.  Outside, the wind howled, the clouds swirling overhead.  No rain fell, no lightning flash, no thunder roared.  The storm itself made even Ororo, the resident weather witch, feel uneasy.  Few students were asleep, most lay in their beds, their minds as jumbled and confused as the storm clouds outside.

It had been, admittedly, a trying day for everyone concerned.

Earlier in the week it had been a hard exams for those enrolled at Bayville High.  That already put most of the older students on edge.  Then there'd been a skirmish with the Brotherhood and some of the hot-headed New Recruits at a downtown deli, though thankfully Wolverine had been nearby and he'd broken it up before anyone got hurt.  But then they'd been caught up in a peaceful mutant's rights protest that had been overtaken by anti-mutant bigots.  Though there were no serious injuries on either side, it had not been a pleasant fight.  They had not been fighting dangerous mutants, or giant robots, or even the military, but civilians.  The very people they were trying to protect and fit in with.

The future of the X-Men, and indeed all mutants, looked bleak indeed.

It was not surprising that the most prominent question on the students minds was: Why me?

Why had they been chosen, by whatever force they believed in (and the beliefs of the students were diverse) to be what they were?  To be different, to be outcasts, to be mutants.  Why couldn't they just be normal, live normal lives.

The storm howled outside, as the mutants, young and old, eventually drifted off to the world of dreams.  Logan, restless, continued to prowl the institutes hallways, his senses active, his animal instincts alerting him to danger, but ultimately he too turned in to rest himself.

The last to fall asleep was, curiously enough, Jamie.  He lay huddled in his covers, very, very scared.  Normally on a stormy night like this, when he couldn't sleep, he'd sneak downstairs and usually find Rahne.  He felt comforted by the presence of the wolf-girl, she was one of the best friends he'd ever had.  But now she was gone, and all he could do was try and fall asleep, alone in the dark.

                                                ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Morning came and the storm still swirled overhead, dark and foreboding, though a little light poured through here and there to light the day.  The institute grounds were damp with morning dew, but few of the students noticed, they were far too relieved.

It was, after all, a Friday.

One by one they started to wake up, shower, dress and make their way downstairs.  Logan was already up and in his customary seat in the kitchen on the window ledge, drinking his coffee and reading the morning paper.  The other students filed in quietly.  It was an unspoken rule.  Whenever Logan was around, you were quiet as a mouse.  Best to avoid his attention in a negative manner, or even a positive manner, unless you wanted a "pop" danger room session.  Strangely enough, neither Kurt nor Beast were spotted at breakfast.

Ororo traveled from her room up to the loft, to visit her plants.  Smiling, she stretched out her hand to summon a miniature rain cloud to water them for the day.

Only nothing happened.

No rain cloud, no rain, nothing.  Ororo frowned, concentrating harder, her fingers trembling as she tried to force her power out via them, but nothing happened.

"Strange…" she remarked quietly, looking down at her hands as if they were the cause of the problem.  In her time in Africa, she knew her power could diminish, or grow, in very short periods of time for unpredictable reasons, much like nature itself.  But this was the first time it had completely failed her.  She would have to speak to Professor Xavier about this.

Breakfast finished, and those students enrolled at Bayville High started to pack their things and head down to the garage, where Scott and Jean were waiting to transport them.

                                                ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Kurt grumbled, rubbing his eyes as he stumbled into Jean's SUV alongside Kitty, still half-asleep.  He'd barely had time to wake up before he'd noticed the time, and rushed downstairs to get to school on time.  Principle Kelly had seen the record his mother left behind, he would've killed him if he was late AGAIN.

"Rough morning Kurt?" asked Kitty.

"Ja," he replied, doing his best to smooth out his rumpled blue hair, trying to smooth out the locks as best he could, to look good for the ladies, of course.  "I feel horrible… like I woke up on the wrong side of the bed.  Can't even remember where I left my math book."

"Least you remember your wa…" Kitty's voice suddenly trailed off, and Kurt glanced up.  She was as pale as a ghost, and her finger jittered as she pointed to his wrist.

His bare wrist.

No holo-watch.

"What happened to your watch, Kurt?" she asked, one hand over her mouth.  Her mind could barely wrap around what had just happened to her best friend.

Kurt instinctively clapped a hand down over his wrist, but he looked at his hands… four fingers… smooth, pink skin, no fur… slowly, he lifted his hands, felt his features.  Gone were his pointed ears, his furry features… even his fangs had vanished.

He… was normal… truly normal.  No hologram.  It was a lifelong dream come true.

So he wondered why his gut suddenly twisted fearfully.

"Its… its okay guys," stated Jean, speaking with a sudden confidence she didn't feel.  Much as she wanted to turn around immediately and speak with Professor Xavier, it was too late already, and being tardy would only give Principle Kelly more ammo to use against them in future.  She wanted to graduate on a good note, at least.  "After school we can just… contact the Professor and he'll know what to do."

Traffic was particularly bad that morning, due to a two-car pileup midway between the Institute and Bayville High.  As such, Jean's SUV slid into a parking just as the warning bell sounded, and all the occupants jumped to their feet.  Jean and Kurt both froze as they heard a bump though, and turned back to see Kitty rubbing her forehead, opening the door and sliding out.

"Kitty, are you okay?" asked Kurt, coming over to her side.

"Of course not, I just bumped my head… couldn't concentrate enough to phase," she muttered, before she and Kurt broke off in a dead run to their classes, leaving Jean standing their, frozen.

She couldn't hear anyone.

Jean normally praised herself on her control over her power, that she never peeked into another persons head without permission or if she had no other choice.  But even still, after her powers had gone out of control, despite having them back under her control, she could still feel little half-whispers from people passing by, little surface thoughts.  But now, she heard nothing.  Fearfully, she raised her hand, glancing around.  Most students had already gone in to class.  She raised her hand, placing her other to her temple as she located a test subject… a small crumpled up piece of paper inches from a nearby trashcan.  She concentrated then, using her TK to lift the piece of trash into the trashcan where it properly belonged…

But it would not work.

Jean was a smart person, smarter than most people gave her credit for, and it wasn't long before she managed to put two and two together and come up with four.

For some reason… mutants had become… normal.

                                                ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"_Doctor, operations have begun… our operatives in the field report that everything is going according to plan_."

"_Excellent.  Now it is time those freaks reign of terror is ended… at 1600 hours… begin phase two_."

**Authors Notes:**

Finally, an original story.  Okay so I borrowed the idea from Skolio, but still its for a good cause.


	2. II

Kurt was very confused by his recent transformation.  He felt no different, no pain, no discomfort.  He flexed his hand for the hundredth time in front of his face, each individual finger, and he could control them all, as easily as he controlled the two he was born with.  He shivered a little, his body unused to the cool air, as he tried to listen to the teacher as she tried to teach Biology, but his attention was diverted, and he was afraid.  He was half afraid his new transformation would fade, and without his holowatch, he easily be spotted in the school classrooms and hallways.  He shivered again, but tried to remain calm_.  I have a spare holowatch stashed in my locker_, he thought.  _I can get it after class_.

The classed ended as the bell rang, and most students filed out eagerly to lunch, some skipping early to escape for an unannounced three-day weekend.  Kurt wove his way in and out of the passing jocks and cheerleaders to his locker, his hand jittering a little nervously as he turned the knob.

Thus, the hand that touched his shoulder, nearly sent him three feet into the air as he whirled around in surprise.

To his vast relief, it was only Amanda, and he smiled.

"Amanda, don't do that… you scared the heck out of me," he said.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to… how are you Kurt?" she asked, leaning in and giving him a quick squeeze-hug.  He returned it, purring softly, a sound that never failed to send shivers down her spine.

"I'm having an… interesting day," he said at length, opening his locker and changing his books, slapping on his holo-watch, though he left it inactive to save power.

"Oh?" she asked as they walked with each other to the lunch court.  "How so?"

"Vell… its kinda of hard to explain… here," he added reluctantly, placing his hand over hers, half fearful of her reaction.

"Kurt…?" she asked, rubbing his fingers, feeling the smooth skin, the four digits.  They both paused in the hallway, alone save for a few students who were gathering their lunches from lockers or speaking with teachers about how their great aunt-sister's-cousin's-husband's foster son had died and they'd had to attend their funeral, could they please make up that final exam?

Amanda leaned in closer, running a hand along Kurt's features curiously.  Kurt smiled, thinking back to the time he'd first shown her who he really was, and she'd done much the same thing.  Her fingers traced along the smooth, rounded edge of his ears, along his smooth cheekbones and chin, and even, after a quick glance around, down his backside, searching for his tail.  That certainly caused him to jump.

"Amanda!" he gasped out, swatting her hand away, a little shocked she would be so bold.  In public, no less.

"Kurt what's happened to you?" she asked, looking up at him fearfully.  "How'd this happen?"

"I've no idea," he replied, his voice dropping down low.  He didn't want the others to overhear.  "I woke up like this… I just didn't realize it until Kitty pointed out I'd forgotten my holowatch this morning."

"Then… this wasn't intentional?" she asked, smiling just a little.

"Nein, why?" he asked.  Her reply was a soft peck on the cheek.

"I was worried you were trying to be something you aren't," she replied shyly.

                                                ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Filthy mutants… I know they're up to something.  I  just don't know what… yet."

Principle Kelly stood, imposing, in his office on the upper levels of Bayville High.  He'd been watching, as he had every morning, the arrival of the Institute mutants, always searching for an opportunity to expel them, get rid of them, and keep the normal students safe.  Something strange had indeed happened today, but not what he'd expected.  He'd seen the mutants, the Pryde girl, and Grey.  They hadn't used their powers, even though they seemed to be trying to.

An act, it had to be.  To lure normal people into a false sense of security before the mutants struck and destroyed everything.  Kelly frowned again, more deeply, and went back to his work as the last of the mutants arrived and went to their classes, pretending to be normal people.  He had more important concerns right now… like planning graduation.  His speech would be very important, and he needed to properly sum up the final years for some of Bayville's finest accurately.

                                                ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Kurt and Amanda opted to join the other Institute students for lunch today, something for which Scott was grateful.  It would've been something of a pain to try and track down the two lovebirds.  As always, one spot at the table was left open by unspoken agreement.  It was their way of saying that Evan would some day return and rejoin them.

"Kurt, glad you could join us… we just got some news from the Prof," he said, putting his cell phone away.

"Vas is da news?" asked Kurt, curious.

"Well, turns out you, Kitty and Jean aren't alone… everyone at the Institute changed the same as we have.  Xavier doesn't know what to make of it, figures we can find out more once we get  home, which is where we've all been told to go immediately after class."

"Awww…" grumbled Kurt, glancing at his girlfriend.  Scott smiled.

"I'm sure we can take a few minutes to drop off Amanda, Kurt," he added.

"I owe you, meine freund," replied Kurt as he low-fived Scott and then engaged in his second-favorite activity in the world: eating.

"Well that's a relief," added Amara, sitting with the others.  "I've never felt so vulnerable in my life… its like part of me is missing."

"I agree," replied Jean, glancing around at everyone who passed by.  Not that many did, the "mutant table" was generally given a wide berth by the rest of the student population.

"Hey its alright," said Scott, placing a hand over Jean's hesitantly.  He was still getting used to thinking of the pretty redhead as his girlfriend.  "Whatever happens, we'll get through this… and hey, we might even be able to enjoy this for a while," he added.

"Then why're you still wearing your sunglasses," she asked with a playful smirk.

"Yeah, I vas vondering about zat, Scott," added Kurt.

"My mutant power isn't working either, if that's what you're wondering," he replied, shifting uncomfortably as he became the center of attention.  "I just… feel more comfortable with them on."

"Come on Scott you said we should enjoy this…" replied Jean with a smile.  "Show me those baby-blues."

Scott could never resist that smile.

Scott reluctantly, slowly, slipped his glasses off, keeping his eyes downwards in case, by some freak occurrence, his powers had returned.  When he opened his eyes, nothing happened, and he could see… truly -SEE-.  It had been so long since he had seen color, everything was so incredibly bright, he blinked a little as he lifted his head up.  Everyone crowded around, curious to solve the mystery of what color Scott's eyes were.

Blue.

"Wow… they really are baby-blues," remarked Kitty.  She, Kurt and Amanda started giggling.  Jean and Scott had eyes only for each other, as if it was the first time they'd ever truly seen what the other looked like.

"Wow…" they both murmured in unison under their breath.  They would've been even more surprised if they could've read the thoughts of the other at that moment.

_I never realized he/she was so beautiful_, they were thinking.

                                                ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Professor Charles Xavier had once used the term "headblind" to describe non-telepaths, unable to sense the thoughts of others.  Though he'd often fantasized what the feeling was like, he'd never actually experienced it since his thirteenth birthday when his powers had begun to emerge.

Until now.

Now his thoughts were his own, and only his own.  Charles was scared, yes, but he did not show that.  He needed to be strong for his students sake, and calm.

"This… phenomenon," he stated slowly to his staff, the senior X-Men.  Beast, Wolverine and Storm.  "Seems to be, for the moment, permanent.  And I think we all can agree it is not natural."

Ororo shook her head emphatically.  Beast was beside himself.  Though he had woken up and been greatly surprised to see a strangers face in the mirror, he was first and foremost a scientist.  The whole thing fascinated him to no end.

Logan just grunted.  He'd been in a great deal of pain most of his life, half-remembered and confusing, due to the experiments of the Weapon X project, but he'd learned to ignore it.  Now, it'd come back in force.  After asking Hank to run a diagnostic x-ray on himself, he'd found he still carried the adamantium laced along his skeleton, as well as the claws.  But he couldn't bring them out, and they weighed heavily upon him, if only in his mind.

"I think we all know who is behind this, Chuck," he stated.

"No Logan, he would not… it does nothing to further his goals of mutant supremacy…"

"Unless he has found a way to apply this… phenomenon only to mutants of his choosing," added Hank.

"Perhaps, though I do not think it likely… Eric was my friend.  I know how he thinks, and this is simply not in his nature."

"So then the question remains… how did this happen, and how do we fix it?"

"For now, it seems," replied Xavier, wheeling his chair over to face the window.  "We will have to wait and see..."

                                                ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"_Phase Two initiated, Doctor.  We'll be seeing results very soon_."

"_Good work_."

"_Sir, if I may ask... how is the subject doing?"_

"_Subject?"_

"_The captured mutant sir... its only a child after all..."_

"_It is the enemy.  And we are at war.  Remember that."_

**Authors Notes:**

After seeing X23, I've come to the conclusion that the old comic information about Wolverine is correct.  That he did have bone claws before the Weapon X procedure, but was simply unaware of them until his bones were laced with adamantium.  As such, now that he and the other physically-mutated mutants are normal, his bone claws have vanished, but his metal ones remain.  They are, of course, useless to him now.  Beast and Kurt (and for that matter, any other physically altered mutant) has assumed human form.  It is not just their powers that have been suppressed.  You'll find out why in a few chapters, though I'd love to hear some reviews if anyone thinks they know who/what's behind all of this.  Oh and I borrowed the term "headblind" from the X2: X-Men United book.

Snitter in Rivendell: Thanks for the first review.  Hope you enjoy what's to come.  And let me say, I love all the Evo characters, but like the producers of XME, I have to juggle around them all.  Expect more appearances from everyone you've seen before, even if only briefly.  As for Magneto's experiments, I don't know what to think… besides, wouldn't he have focused on the X-genes?  Makes sense to me.

Elisabeth Braddock-Grey: Glad you like it.  I like your stories too, and I hope we can see good ol' Psylocke in Evo soon.  If we do maybe I'll slip her into the story later.

Fantasy Cat: You think they're in trouble now?  You ain't seen nothin' yet.


	3. III

The X-Men were, interestingly, not the only ones suffering that day.

Todd had nearly broken his back when he'd tried to jump down the stairs, and instead ended up falling down them in a heap.

Lance and the twins glanced at him from the kitchen, busy as they were eating their late breakfast (it was almost noon).  This was not uncommon.  Since there was no school and little on the TV that early in the morning, most of the Brotherhood had elected to sleep in 'til noon, stay up just as late in the evening.

"Whatsamatter frog boy?  You trip over your own feet?" asked Pietro.

"Actually yeah I did," replied Todd, brushing off his already dirty clothes (no one seemed to mind he wore the same thing every day) and made his way into the kitchen to snag his own breakfast.

Wanda, who hadn't really been paying attention, glanced at Todd, and suddenly dropped her glass, which shattered on the floor.

"Toad?" she asked, her voice trembling.

"What?" he asked, turning back to face her.  Then he blinked as he saw Wanda pointing at him, her finger trembling fearfully.  He glanced down, looking, but he didn't see anything too peculiar.  He touched his face.  Apart from being a little moist (and why not, he just showered this morning) he felt fine.

"What?  What is it?" he asked, confused a little discomforted.  Now Lance and Pietro were staring too.  Todd, now very confused, headed out of the kitchen and into the living room, where sat a great broken mirror (one of Wanda's fits of rage) that they'd yet to throw out, and moved in front of it to see his reflection...

... to see a stranger staring back.

Todd jumped backed, then stepped forward hesitantly, running his fingers along the glass, seeing his features.  His pale green flesh was now healthy pink, his strange yellow eyes replaced with soft brown ones.  His perpetual slouch was gone, and he stood straight for the first time in years.  Through the mirror he could see the other members of the Brotherhood, Fred now having joined them, and Todd glanced back in surprise again, gawking at the Immovable Object.

Either he'd had entirely too much of Pryde's cooking, or somewhere during the night he'd lost over two hundred odd pounds.  He looked shorter as well.  His clothes hung limply around his now much smaller frame.

"So it isn't just me," he said, as Lance, Pietro and Wanda turned around and received yet another shock to their poor systems.

"Okaythisisjustentirelytoowei.." started Pietro.

"English please, Pietro," grumbled Lance, rubbing his temples.  He was not in the mood to put up with translating Pietro's quick speech.

"I... I'd better call Magneto about this," said Pietro as he rushed up the stairs as fast as he could (which was as fast as just about any other human being) and grabbed his cell phone from beside his bed, quickly dialing in a number he knew by heart.  He heard it ring... once... twice... and then suddenly it beeped at him, and he looked at the phone.

(Signal Lost.  Network Difficulties)

Pietro dialed again, tried again, and again, at least a dozen times before he started to get nervous.  He wanted to call with the phone line in the house, but Magneto had expressly forbid there be any way to trace their calls.  Pietro panicked, rushing back downstairs and grabbing a hold of Wanda.

"Itsnotworking!  Thestupidphonesnotworking!  Nowwe'reallaloneandhelplesswithoutourpowers!!" he yelled, until Wanda shook him off with disgust.

"Get a hold of yourself, my dear brother," she said, crossing her arms.

"Yeah calm down.  Now again... slowly... what's wrong?" asked Lance.

"Stupid phone won't work," replied Pietro, tossing it at Lance, who caught it and examined it, shrugging.

"Big deal we can survive this," he replied.

"You don't understand!  We haven't got our powers... they're all gone!  Look!!" he shouted, running around them in rather ludicrous circles, like a stupid toddler.  Todd obligingly stuck out his foot and tripped Pietro, sending him sprawling.

Wanda frowned, stretching out her hand, considering a target, and settled on the mirror she'd already destroyed the week before, launching a hex bolt at it.

Nothing.  No shattering, no restoration, it didn't even shudder.

"Weird..." she remarked coolly, eyeing her hand as if it was the cause of her problems.

"But this isn't any reason to panic," started Lance calmly.  Pietro ran over to him and grabbed his shirt.

"Are you nuts?!  This is plenty of reason to panic!  The X-Men could show up any minute and level this whole house!  We're helpless!!" shouted Pietro.  Lance growled and grabbed Pietro's shirt, shaking him off and throwing him to the ground.

"We're not helpless... least, I'm not... I don't know about the rest of you?" he asked, glancing at each in turn.  They all shook their heads, resolute.

"Now, we don't know if this hasn't happened to the X-geeks either... we need to send someone to find out," stated Lance, taking charge.

"Why don't you go?" asked Wanda.  "You were one of them once, weren't you?"

"Do I always have to be reminded of that?" asked Lance with a growl.

"Yeah" replied Fred.

"Yup," added Todd.

"Always," said Pietro.

"Fine I'll go then... Wanda you come with me," he said, turning around and heading towards the door with a smirk.  _Five... four... three...two..._

"Uh hey maybe I should go with Wanda instead!" said Todd, jumping forward, waving his hand.  _One_.  Lance smirk grew wider, then he dropped it, as if he didn't care.

"Sure, go ahead... drop by the school first, they should be there," he replied, ushering out Wanda and Todd before the former decided to object.  Then he quickly shut the door on them both.

It was good to be back in charge.

                                                ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"As far as I've been able to determine, the X-genes in question are still present.  Our DNA's not been tampered with in the least by any sort of biological factor.  No biological contamination like a virus or anything.  However, anything dealing with the X-gene just seems to be blocked before it can be replicated into our cells.  Overnight Kurt and I must've shifted into this over a short period of time.  That would certainly explain all the blue fur in my room... I must've shed," he added with a blush.

"So you've found nothing either..." replied Professor Xavier with a sigh.  He shifted the controls on his chair, moving alongside Hank, who shook his head.

"Nothing.  I have no idea what is causing this... phenomenon."

Professor Xavier steepled his fingers, brow furrowed in concentration.

"I feel something very dangerous is causing all of this," he said finally.  "It would be better if the students were here, where it is safe."

"By the pricking of my thumb, something wicked this way comes," replied Hank with a small margin of his original humor.  "They'll be fine, Charles.  You already contacted Scott, he'll have the others home as soon as classes finish, then they'll be inside the perimeter and the security system can handle any external threats."

"Hopefully," replied Professor Xavier, still thinking.  He tried not to recount the countless times when the security systems had been more of a burden than a benefit.  Twice now it had attacked the students, and the two times it had responded to intruders, they'd been able to disable it in short order.  It would have been safer, and easier, to rely on their mutant powers, but now all they had was each other, their collective brains, and the benefits of technology, against whatever new threat developed.

Professor Xavier prayed it would be enough.

                                                ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

School was mercifully brief that day.

Students piled out of their classrooms at the sound of the last bell, filing towards their cars (the seniors at least) or making the way to the bus stops to catch a ride home.

Scott and Jean were among the first to arrive, as well as Kitty.  Kurt and Amanda were no where to be seen, as Amara jogged up to join them.  The others had their own transportation.

"So hey Jean, is it okay if I...?"

"No," replied Jean, without even blinking.  Kitty huffed angrily.  Ever anxious for a chance to drive she kept getting turned down by both of the eighteen year olds for -some- reason or another.

"Jean, have you seen Kurt or Amanda?  They're late," remarked Scott, sitting on the hood of his red and white-striped convertible, parked alongside Jean's SUV and, today at least, free of any unpleasant markings or key scratches.  Or fish in the backseat.

"Give him a break Scott," she replied, sitting down alongside him.  "He's used to teleporting, of course he'll be running late a little more now."

"He was running late even when he could teleport," muttered Scott under his breath, folding his arms and glancing skyward.

"Oh come on... at least this gives us some time together," she said with a smile, wrapping an arm around his waist.  Scott relax and smiled back, slipping an arm around her shoulders.  Kitty and Amara took the not-too-subtle hint and made themselves scarce, chatting on the opposite side of the SUV.

                                                ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"_Targets acquired._"

"_Good, take care of them._"

"_They're still at the school sir... we'd be seen."_

"_Then take them as soon as possible."_

"_Understood sir...oh and sir?"_

"_Yes_?"

"_There's another with them_."

"_Take them out as well_."

**Authors Notes:**

Best I set the record straight on the couples in this story before we proceed.  I'm trying to stay as close to the Evolution series, so Scott/Jean, Kurt/Amanda, Rogue/Remy, Piotr/Kitty and Wanda/Todd.  Maybe a little Tabitha/Amara too, or am I the only one thinks those two are closer than "just friends?"  Not sure about anything else, but we'll see.  Expect more appearances from your favorite (and not-so-favorite) Evolution characters as time goes on.

Oh and for the record, Impact was a sweet episode.  Not one but two awesome, dramatic deaths!  Mystique's took me totally by surprise (assuming, of course, they're dead.  It is Marvel, after all, and a kids show no less.)

Elisabeth Braddock-Grey: I will continue when I am good and ready!  As for who's behind this, you'll just have to wait and see.  Or better yet, guess!  You'd be surprised.

UnknownSource: I thought I'd get a request to hear about the Brotherhood sooner or later.  This was already planned.  As for the evil sounding scientist voices at the end?  Subtle hints foreshadowing what is to come.  A pity no one seems willing to take a guess as to who the evil mastermind behind all of this is.

Rain: Glad you like it.

Soul Eater: Danke, Meine Friend.

Mayra: Of course I don't like Kelly.  He's fundamentally unlikable, that's the point of his character in Evo.  As for Scott's blue eyes, I am basing that on his flashback to the plane accident with his parents and brother.

Optic Red: As I told, Betsy, in my own good time.  But glad you like it.  You keep up the good work on your stories as well.


	4. IV

No one could say how it happened.

No one could pinpoint exactly who threw the first fist.

All Ray knew was that this punk wanted a piece of him, and he wasn't about to disappoint.

Blows were exchanged, and the punk was soon bleeding from a broken nose, while Ray had yet to show a mark apart from some bruised knuckles.  Though he hadn't wanted to fight (a rare occurrence, to be sure) he knew his rights, this was legally self-defense.

Especially when his buddies jumped him.

When they did, Ray tried to fight them off without using his powers.  Not out of a respect not to hurt them, but because he didn't want a lecture from Kelly, the Prof AND Logan.  But when push came to shove, Berzerker lived up to his name.

Trouble is, his powers didn't.

A fist the size of a Buick slammed into his gut and he fell to his knees as the others started to kick, finding him suddenly defenseless, unable to fight back.  Ray cursed, coughing up blood at a particularly well placed kick to his stomach.  He groaned and rolled over onto all fours, trying to crawl away, but to no avail.

Ray was a good fighter.  You had to be, if you lived with the Morlocks, however briefly.  And he'd gotten even better under the training sessions from Wolverine, not that he'd ever admit it.  But ultimately he was no good against an entire gang of punks ready to rip him apart.

Which is why he was grateful his friends showed up.

"Leave him alone!" shouted Tabitha, slamming her knees into one of the punks rather... sensitive... regions and pushing him into a locker, away from Ray.  Bobby and Sam grabbed another one by the shoulders and yanked him back, restraining his arms from causing further conflict.  The others wisely choose to flee, leaving Tabitha to help Ray to his feet.

"The nerve of those guys, jumping you all at once like that," she stated angrily, still chewing on her gum.

"They got worse," grumbled Ray, rubbing his bruised knuckles.

"Well come on you guys quick, the bus is leaving," stated Bobby.  The others quickly followed his lead, barely getting on board the yellow school bus as the doors slammed shut.  The mutants, as always feeling uncomfortable surrounded by large numbers of non-mutant, hostile people, found themselves walking all the way to the back, passing a number of seats that to an untrained eye would -seem- open, but the instant they tried to sit down, a backpack would magically appear in.  It was the way things were going to be, they'd learned to accept it.

Didn't mean they liked it.

                                                ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Kurt and Amanda finally arrived, and Scott took off in the convertible.  Jean had already left with her passengers, since they wanted to get back to the Institute as soon as possible in case the Professor had found out anything.  Leaving Scott with the dubious privilege of transporting two passengers in the backseat who couldn't keep their hands off one another.

"Hey Kurt, where did you say Amanda lived again?  Kurt...?" he asked, glancing back.  They looked like they hadn't even heard him.

"KURT!"

"Vas?" said Kurt with a jump.  "Oh right, her house... down ze next road, turn left on 3rd street, it's a two-story blue house... can't miss it," he said, then immediately returned to lip-wrestling with Amanda.  Scott gave an exasperated groan, but obligingly followed Kurt's directions.

Since the incident with Toad at the Sefton's place, Amanda had been adamant about seeing Kurt again.  After a very long talk with her parents, during which she explained about Kurt and Toad, what little she knew about other mutants and the X-Men, she'd been allowed to see and date Kurt again.  Though for their sake he avoided visits.

And then the road before them exploded.

The blast went off without warning, and Scott's quick reflexes jumped into action as he slammed on the breaks to avoid the worst of the blast, but the red convertible still caught some of the worst of it, nearly flipping over as Scott struggled to keep it under control, very grateful he'd had everyone buckle up before he'd left the parking lot at Bayville High.  He grumbled, unbuckling his belt and standing up, scanning for signs of what had caused the incident.

Suddenly a trio of soldiers, swat team of some type, swept out from between nearby homes, surrounding the vehicle, aiming their weapons.  Scott jumped and rolled away from the car as a taser line was shot just over his head, narrowly avoiding him as he rolled back to his feet, watching the other soldiers anxiously, waiting for their next move before he bolted for it.

Kurt had also managed to avoid a similar taser aimed at his head, ducking back down into the car and shielding Amanda with his own body.

"Amanda, run!" shouted Kurt, giving her a push as he leapt forward, drawing the soldiers attention.  They fired, and he leapt out of the way, landing in an awkward crouch.

_Verdammit.  I'm not as agile as I once was_, he thought, steadying himself.  _Ah well, I can work with what I have_.

"Kurt!" Amanda shouted.  Two more soldiers had driven up in a black van, opened the door and grabbed her, hauling her inside.  Kurt gasped in shock.

"Amanda!" he shouted, leaping forward.  The two soldiers tried to get in his way but a well placed kick and punch took them out.  The driver of the black van gunned the motor and started to take off, heading in the opposite direction.  Kurt cursed again, loudly, in German, glancing around.  He couldn't teleport and get her, and he wasn't very fast now that he could only run on two limbs properly. A cry and a grunt caught his attention, and he turned, seeing Scott was still struggling with the remaining soldiers.

Scott's fist shot out and slugged one soldier across his chin, unprotected by his dark helmet, but the man didn't go down.  He returned the favor, and Scott did, as they took careful aim with their tasers this time.

Kurt leapt forward, flipped himself and landed both feet square in the soldiers back, sending him flying into the ground with a mouthful of pavement.  The other turned, but Scott lashed out with his leg, sending him onto his back as well.  Quickly Scott grabbed his opponents taser and used it to knock him out.

The sudden revving of an engine caught his attention, and he turned just in time to see Kurt tearing off in his car.

"KURT!" he shouted, partially angry Kurt had taken off without him.

And partially angry he'd left his keys in in the first place.

                                                ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Amanda struggled whole-heartedly against her captors, fighting like a crazed animal.  She'd picked up a few martial arts moves from Kurt over the past few weeks, but it was to no avail as the captors pinned her down with sheer weight and size.  Suddenly the van shudder, veering crazily to one side before being brought under control.

"We have company!" cursed the driver.

"Lose him!" shouted back one of the troopers, moving ahead and undoing the safety on his gun, leaning out the passengers side window.

Amanda shifted in the grasp of her final captor, the big guy, and looked through the rear-view window.  It was Kurt, in Scott's convertible, chasing after them.  He'd come to rescue her!

With a sudden, decisive movement she slammed her foot down hard on the soldier still holding her, and he instinctively let go.  She leapt forward and grabbed the door, sliding it open to see Kurt there once more, alongside her.  He glanced at her, beckoning her to leap into the convertible as he brought it in close against the black van again.

Amanda was scared, she wasn't used to this, but she had total faith in Kurt.

She jumped.

Landed right in the backseat as Kurt flipped the car into reverse and executed a flawless U-turn in the middle of the street, as the slow, less nimble black van had to circle around at the intersection behind them.  Amanda grabbed Kurt around the neck, holding onto him and crying gratefully.

"Oh Kurt I was so scared..."

"Ja liebchen, I know..." he replied, reaching back with one hand to pat her arm to comfort her as best he could, keeping his eyes on the road.  "Come on, ve'll pick up Scott and zen get back to the Institute... you'll be safe zere."

Amanda nodded, sitting back down and buckling up as Kurt sped off back to where there stood a very irritated Scott Summers, arms crossed.  As soon as Kurt arrived he nudged him into the back again and took his rightful place in the drivers seat.

"We've got company!" said Amanda, pointing over the back.  The black van had returned, and out the passengers side was one of the soldiers, with an AK-47.  Bullets rained down, and the two mutants and humans in the red convertible ducked down as they sped off, navigating the streets, running red lights and stop signs all their way back to the Institute, where Scott pushed the door-open switch on the inside of his car, and the gates obligingly opened, closing shut as soon as they were on the Institute grounds.  Scott brought his car to a slow stop at the front door, and breathed a sigh of relief.

"Come on in Amanda, ve'll get you something to drink, it may help you calm down," said Kurt, escorting his girlfriend into the Institute, holding open the door as a proper gentleman.

Scott started to follow, then glanced back at his car, his prized possession.  Fire scorches from the explosion, bullet holes in back, one tired had gone flat, and the left side was a dented mess from where Kurt had slammed into the black van.  To say Scott was only a little annoyed was to say that Quicksilver had only a little ego.

But more importantly, he wondered, who were those guys... and why had they been attacked?****

                                                ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"_Excellent... all is going according to plan._"

"_We've already obtained two more subjects sir."_

_"Good work.  Place them in containment.  We'll deal with them soon enough_"****

**Authors Notes:**

I know more than just the core X-Men (Scott, Jean, Rogue, Kurt and Kitty) attend school, since we've seen Amara and Tabitha there, so I figure the only one they really keep home schooled is Jamie, since his power isn't under his control yet.  For the Brotherhood, I doubt any of them attend school anymore (Todd, Lance and Fred 'cause they were expelled and Wanda and Pietro 'cause they couldn't be bothered).  Same with the Acolytes.  They seem to have bigger concerns than psychic's exams.

Todd Fan: Wow, that means a lot coming from an accomplished fan fiction authoress.  I imagine you'll like what's to come, so stick around.

Elisabeth Braddock-Grey: Glad you like it.  Thanks for being such a very frequent reviewer, your input is always welcome.

Rogue14: In due time, my dear.

Unknown Source: Interesting guess, and surprisingly you're the first to think that.  I won't answer directly, of course.  But I will say that I've evolized (hehe, I made up a term) two of the old X-Men characters for my story.  Did a little tinkering of my own as well, but everyone is the way they are in Evolution.  Rogue'll be along, but who's she gonna kiss?  Scott's with Jean now, and Remy's no where to be found (plus, aren't they kinda enemies?)

Mss4Maverick: I'm taking my time with Rogue because she is my favorite character and I'm trying to keep her in character.

Optic Red: Of course, of course... though I am posting a little faster since I see how much everyone is enjoying this story, but I can only do so much with my studies getting in the way.


	5. V

"What is happening?" 

"What is going on?"

"What has happened to us?"

"My face... I am normal..."

"Where is our leader?"

"Where is Callisto?"

"She is here."

The last voice drew the most attention from the gathered Morlocks, and they immediately turned to see their leader standing their, leaning on her staff.  Behind her stood her new second-in-command.  The one known as Spyke.

"Calm yourselves, my people... there is no reason yet to panic," she stated.

"But Callisto," started the Morlock known as Lucid.  Or at least, it looked like Lucid, minus the yellowed skin.  "We are powerless now... how could this have happened?"

"We are not powerless," she stated, slamming the bottom of her staff down onto the ground with a loud clang that echoed throughout the Alley.  "We are Morlocks.  We have survived, and remained strong, through worse.  True, this situation concerns me and my lieutenant, but for now, calm yourselves.  Continue your tasks as you normally would.  That is my command."

Callisto and Evan then departed, leaving the remaining Morlocks to continue to puzzle after their curious fate.  Many of them had been born freaks, many were abandoned at birth.  Now they were perfectly normal.

"Callisto, if this is affecting all mutants, the X-Men should be made aware of this..." started Evan.  Callisto cut him off by holding her staff in front of his path, halting him.

"No.  We are not returning to the surface."

"Why not?" he demanded angrily, pushing her staff out of the way.  She turned to face him, her one eye flashing angrily, but Evan stood his ground.  He hadn't become her second-in-command for nothing, after all.  Reluctantly, Callisto broke the eye-contact and turned, sighing.

"I know what you're thinking, Spyke.  We lead the others topside, as if they were normal, as if they were human.  We can't give the others hope... you know as well as I do this will never last.  They will be forced to return here, to the sewers, and they'll be more depressed than ever.  I refuse to do that to them.  It would break their proud hearts."

"Then let me go.  I'll take Stall with me, we can meet with the X-Men and come right back," he replied.

"Rrrr..." she sighed angrily, pondering a moment or two before relenting.  "Very well.  No sightseeing.  Find out if this is happening to them too... I suspect we are not the only ones being affected."

"I had the same though," he replied, dropping his skateboard and heading off down the slick tunnels to find Stall.

Callisto sighed, slipping into her sleeping chambers and dropping the mask of command, sighing deeply as she realized how much she'd come to depend on Evan the past few weeks.  He was strong, creative, powerful.  His mutation had made him very dangerous, and at the same time very useful.  And his training with the X-Men had given him an idea of how to train other mutants like the Morlocks to make for a more effective fighting force.  But that was not the only appeal Evan held for Callisto.

He was willing to die to save the Morlocks, the same as she was.  She'd never seen a surface dweller, even a mutant, so noble.  It touched something inside of her.

                                                ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"They were fast, effective.  They knew exactly what they were doing," stated Scott clearly.  Logan grumbled, nodding.

"Just black uniforms?  Nothing else?  No symbols, badges, ranks?" he asked.

"Nothing... though I wasn't paying the best of attention.  The van was definitely unmarked though... no license plate."

Logan grumbled, and likely would've popped his claws if he'd been able to.

"I doubt they'd be foolish enough to try and attack us again... at least while we're on the Institute grounds.  The big question," added Scott with a worried look behind his sunglasses.  "Was why they attacked us... and more importantly... why attack Amanda?"

"Maybe they hate mutant sympathizers as much as they hate mutants," replied Logan, folding his arms, thinking.

"Then how did they know we were mutants?"

"SHIELD has profiles on all the X-Men," stated Logan quietly, staring out the window.  Scott frowned.

"Then SHIELD was behind the attack?" he asked.  It didn't seem possible, but still, he didn't know much about the organization.

"Couldn't be... I know ol' Patch too well, he wouldn't try anything like this, without due cause at least.  No..." replied Logan.  Then he added, "But if SHIELD has all the profiles of the X-Men, as well as a good deal more mutants, then anyone who could break in could access them."

"Like X23," started Scott.  He realized his error almost immediately, and started to correct himself but Logan growled, low and angrily, and stormed out of the room.  Scott was suddenly grateful their powers had been suppressed, or he might have found himself on the business end of three very sharp adamantium claws.  Wolverine hated the mention of X23.  To him, she was his darkest nightmares come true.  What he could have become, if the Weapon X project had been able to control him.  A heartless, soulless killer.  Logan loved her like a father, and since her departure he had felt like he'd betrayed her, letting her go out into the cold world all alone.

"Sorry Logan," said Scott softly.

                                                ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Evan blinked, shielding his eyes.

He'd almost forgotten how bright the sun was.  Alongside him Stall fared little better, shielding her eyes with her now normal sized hands.  Evan smiled, glancing around at the deserted alleyway they had emerged in.  Calliban had guided them here, stating it was where he had located the Institute New Recruits after the Sentinel disaster.  Logically, it was near the Institute.  

Evan rummaged through a nearby dumpster, careful to keep to the very top where the trash in question was still dry.  A much needed Morlock skill, he'd found, was foraging.  It wasn't like the Morlocks could sew, or even go up to the surface and purchase clothes, so they had to steal them.  Finally Evan found what he hoped for: a worn out but still function red baseball cap with the New York Yankees across the front.  Finding it clean and deciding it would do he turned around and placed it on Stall's head, as she smiled up at him happily, now able to see more easily.  He smiled and took her hand, leading her to the streets of Bayville.  Thankfully, despite their worn and torn appearance (Evan's shirt looked like Swiss cheese) they went unnoticed by the general population, which was precisely what they were looking for.

"Hey Stall, while we're up here I can show you how to skate," he said, handing her the skateboard from under his arm.  He'd found it during a surface raid, picked it up from the street where it'd lay discarded, and it was the only way he kept from sometimes going mad down in the Morlock tunnels.  Stall looked up at him curiously.

"Come on, you know how to skate... just get on like this," he said, placing one foot on the skateboard, demonstrating for her.  "And... push!" he added, pushing his other foot off to propel himself forward.  Smiling he got off and headed back to Stall, who was watching him with an awed expression.

"Come on its easy... you try it..." he said, dropping the skateboard down before her.  Slowly, reluctantly, she placed her foot on, and started to push off... almost immediately she slipped and lost her balance, but Evan was there to catch her.

"Oh hey watch it... easy... take it slow Stall."

Stall smiled up at him, and Evan smiled as well.  Stall was like the little sister he'd never had, always looking up to him, ever since he'd saved her back at the Power8 Facility.  She didn't talk at all... apparently, according to Callisto, she'd been abused as a child because of her mutation.  It had left her mute.  But she was very curious and a very good listener, and always eager to hear Evan tell his stories about the surface and his old cadre of friends, the X-Men.

"Okay... lets try again..."

                                                ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"_They've escaped sir... even the latent... what are our orders_?"

"_Forget that one, they're no threat for now.  Obtain the others_."

"_We can't, they're already in a safe zone_."

"_Then keep an eye on them... get them when they emerge.  I'll send reinforcements_." ****

**Authors Notes:**

I have no idea how old Callisto is, but she actually seems kinda youngish to me in Evo.  I don't think she's much older than the other mutant kids, maybe early 20's or so.  As for the little mutant girls name, it was never mentioned in the Morlock episode, nor has she ever been seen in the comics.  The Beyond Evolution website creator, Denail, labeled her as Stall, and it seemed as good a name as any to me, so for this story that is her name.  Thank you, Denail. 

Caliente: Rogue is coming!  Keep your skirt/pants on!  Or have you never heard the expression: genius cannot be rushed?  Well, I am no genius, but still, I, uh... shut up!  Besides, I'm having just a little trouble with Rogue after what she did in Impact.  I imagine everyone has the same question.  'Why?'

Kurt Wagner: I checked an on-line translator after I read that (mortified that I had messed it up) but it seems 'liebchen' is German for 'beloved', as suspected.  Plus, the way you've spelled I the 'e' and the 'i' are switched, perhaps that is why you feel it is wrong.

HathorCol: Ja, Danke.  Glad you like it.  So… have you got any predictions/requests?

Soul Eater: Oh don't worry, all will be revealed in time.

Todd Fan: I mean that, you did some very twisted, awesome work with X-ME babies, both times around no less.  No guesses on your end either, though?  I'm surprised.


	6. VI

At four pm, all of the X-Men were gathered in the living room, save Hank, who was still in the labs below working to discover what had happened, and Ororo, who was assisting him.  Professor Xavier rolled his wheelchair up in front of the TV to address his students who sat, lay, or leaned no every available piece of furniture to accommodate them.  Amanda sat to one side with Kurt, her hand intertwined with his.  Professor Xavier couldn't help but smile at this, a living symbol of his dream world, mutants and humans getting along.  But another time for that, now he had more pressing concerns.

"As I am sure you are all aware," he began.  "Our mutants powers have, for lack of a better term, ceased to function.  We are currently working to find a cause, and until we do we are going to have to accept this phenomenon as permanent.  However, certain precautions need to be taken.  Logan?"

"First off, no more danger room sessions," he stated.  This was met with a few scattered cheers, which he silenced with a withering glance.  "Don't think I'm going soft on you all... but for now it'd be a bad idea.  Martial arts lessons are still on schedule," he added with a vicious smirk.  "In addition, seems I have a new student for our training sessions."

Amanda smiled sheepishly.

"Indeed..." remarked Professor Xavier.  "X-Men, please join me in welcoming our temporary guest, Amanda Sefton.  We have already contacted Amanda's parents.  Despite certain... reservations... they've allowed her to remain here for the weekend.  She'll be in one of our quest rooms for the time being."

Kurt suppressed a grin.

"While I would request that no one leave the Institute grounds during this time I realize this will be quite impossible..."

"Not to mention noisy," added Logan under his breath.

"To have so many teenagers around.  Therefore, you are still allowed to come and go as you please, but we will be imposing an earlier curfew at eight, just after it gets dark," he stated calmly.  This was met with little protest, most of them weren't eager to be caught outside in the dark without their powers anyway.

"In addition, it would be wise of you to be accompanied by at least one of your peers if you do go out, and at least one of you carry your cell phone," the Professor added.  "For now that will be all, we will keep you all informed if myself or Hank discovers anything new.  However, I would request to see Scott, Rogue, and Kurt in my office privately for the moment... the rest of you may go on your way... I imagine you're eager to begin the weekend," he added with a fatherly, knowing smile.

With a whoop most of the younger students did just that, rushing outside, grabbing their gear, and starting a friendly game of no-powers soccer.

Scott, Rogue and Kurt filed in to join Professor Xavier in his private office.

"This situation may be permanent for the moment," started the Professor after a brief moment of silence.  "However, I cannot honestly say that it will remain this way indefinitely.  As such, I want the three of you to be extra precautious, and keep your usual... er, preventive measures... on hand at all times.  Kurt, the same with your holo-watch, in case things return to the way they were... I understand you still wish to keep your true form hidden."

"Ja."

"We understand Professor," replied Scott, who was still wearing his sunglasses, having put them back on after school.  It was more habit than anything else.

"Thank you."

"Danke Herr Professor," said Kurt, as he skipped off to find Amanda.

Scott filed out after him, joining the others while Rogue lingered, glancing back at Xavier.

"Something else on your mind, Rogue?" he asked, raising an eyebrow.  When she turned back around to face him, he was surprised to see she was crying.

"No ahm... ahm fahne Professor," she replied, her accent unusually thick as her voice choked on emotion.  She ran out of the room, down the hall and to her own room, flinging herself down on her bed and crying her eyes out.  Angrily she ripped off her offensive gloves and threw them away.

Life wasn't fair.

First she'd been given her powers, leaving her unable to touch anyone, even those she'd cared about, and worse, made them afraid to touch her.

Then she'd lost the one person who'd ever cared about her to her rival, Ms. Perfect.

And now she could touch again, and he was out of her reach.

She cried into her pillow all the rest of the afternoon.

                                                ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Fear.

His gut was clenched, his fingers were jittering, his body trembled, and he hid himself away from the sights of others.

Because he was afraid of them.  Afraid of what they could do to him, now that he was helpless.  He was alone, and no one would come to save him.

_Only he would come_, he thought bitterly.  _And he'd just as soon lock me up again.  No.  I won't go back... I am free, now.  This would pass, and I will be powerful again._

For now, he had to find somewhere to hide out and wait.  Angrily he broke into a public laundromat, stealing some clothes to cover his now naked frame.  They didn't fit very well against his large frame, but they would do for now.

There.  An abandoned building in the warehouse district.  That would do for now.

How the mighty have fallen, he thought angrily as he pushed the door aside, breaking it off its hinges, examining what would be his new home for the time being.

_It will do_, he decided.

The large man grabbed a nearby crate and shifted it over, breaking it into pieces with his foot to make firewood.  He winced in pain as he was reminded, yet again, that he was no longer as powerful as he once was.  Grumbling, he checked his foot, but found no bleeding.  Thankful he did not have to waste time bandaging his wound, he resumed his task, picking up a discarded crowbar to assist him.

Had he been listening, over the din of metal hitting wood, he would've heard the roof above him start to creak.  As it was, he did not notice the sound until the building, disturbed by his entrance, had started to collapse.  Its structure was already weak, all it had needed was a little coaxing.  Cursing, the man tossed his crowbar aside as he made for the door, only to have a chunk of the ceiling hit his foot, causing him to veer to one side as he leapt forward.  The building collapses, clouds of dust billowing up as the man was crushed under piles of heavy stone.

A few short hours later, he regained consciousness.  To his relief, he'd found the stones had fallen in such a way that they piled around him, not crushing his vital organs., and thankfully not his limbs.  To his irritation, his legs and shoulder were both pinned, and it was impossible for him to raise himself, or even move his left arm.  He was trapped.  And he highly doubted that anyone would be coming by the area for a good long time to come save him, isolated as it was.

The Unstoppable Force, had been stopped.  Perhaps permanently.

The Juggernaut was immobilized, and would, unless rescued, starve to death.

Cain Marko was going to die.

                                                ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"_We've lost another one sir.  Damn building collapsed on him before we could apprehend him."_

"_No matter, as long as he is dead.  Continue with the next group.  Remember, these things are worth more to us alive than dead... for now_."

**Authors Notes:**

Concerning the Juggernaut, in "Survival of the Fittest" they commented that Cain was had an x-gene that was latent most of his life, but was enhanced by mysticism.  As such, I consider him a mutant, and thus subject to the effects of that which is now effecting all other mutants.  Poor Cain.  So far, the votes for who is behind all this are: 1 Sinister, 1 Magneto, 1 Dr. Herbert Landon (an old Marvel villain).  Oh you poor fools are in for quite a shock.  I have a few more frequent updates to come, but they're about to end shortly, as my three-day weekend is almost over.  Slower updates will come as quickly as I'm able, however.

Caliente: Of course I will be bringing in the Acolytes.  Every single mutant who has ever shown up in Evolution will be part of this story.  As will most of the non-mutants.

HoneyBug17: Certainly.

Glaivester: I recall who you're talking about, I remember the episode well.  That was, back then, two of my favorite shows rolled into one.  That is one of the most interesting guesses I've had so far.  
Todd Fan: You see what I mean?  You a sick, twisted, demented little Evo fan............ Don't ever change.

Unknown Source: Oh, I intend to tease everyone, that is why I am leaving the descriptions vague.  All will be revealed in future chapters.  Oh, and here's your good ol' Rogue.  More of her to come.

Mutant Fangirl: Lance at the bottom of this?  Well that's a new one.  Of course X23 will show up, she's one of my favorite characters.  Though not for a while yet.  Maybe not until I can see 'Target X' and get a better idea of what happened to her after 'X23.'

Hathor Col: I figured most would be eager to see reunion of family.  There'll be plenty of that to go around.

Gyuumajo: Sure thing.


	7. VII

"My eyes foolin' me yo?  Its Daniels!"

Wanda glanced up at what her blithering idiot of a companion pointed out to her, noticing the black kid and the little girl next to her immediately.  She recognized the former.  Spyke the X-Man, whom last she'd heard had been living in the sewers.

Well he certainly looked like a mess.

His clothes were torn, his jeans were wet and even from this distance she could detect the faint whiff of sewage.  Thankfully, living around Toad had endowed all members of the Brotherhood to instinctively ignore such odors.

"Who the hell are... Wanda?  Who's this?" asked Evan, pointing to Todd.

"Believe it or not, it is Toad," she explained as the two groups met face to face.  Or rather, she and Evan did.  Todd slunk around behind her, trying to look intimidating.  And the little girl clung to Evan's torn jean leg, watching them fearfully.  She couldn't have been more than a dozen or so years old, and she looked downright wasted, Wanda could see she was in sore need of proper food.

"Toad?  What on earth happened to you?"

"Me?  What on earth happened to you, yo?  Last I heard you was shootin' spikes left and right.  Said you'd gone down into the sewers."

"That's... partially true," Evan admitted, lowering his head a little, but not looking away.  He didn't want to show weakness, especially not before two Brotherhood members.  "My spikes couldn't be controlled, but that wasn't the only reason I left."

"Then what was?" asked Wanda.

"None of your business," he snapped her.  She growled, clenching her fists, but forced herself to remain calm.  _Focus the anger_, she thought.  _Use it instead of it using you_.

"So what brings you up here?  An' who's the kid?" asked Todd, crouching down in an all too familiar pose to regard the little girl, who cowered behind Evan's legs.

"Stop that Toad you're scaring her... this is Stall..." said Evan, gently patting her shoulder, encouraging her to come back again into the open.

"Stall?  What kinda name is that?"

"We don't know her true name, she couldn't tell us... she's mute," stated Evan angrily.

Wanda and Todd, both outcasts in their own way, felt immediate sympathy.

"Oh... sorry," offered Todd.  He couldn't think of anything else to say, really.

Suddenly something in Evan's mind clicked.  He definitely wasn't the brightest of kids, nor the most attentive, but he was streetwise.  And his instincts helped him figure this one out.  Todd and Wanda, away from the rest of the Brotherhood, on the same street we are, which leads right to the Institute.

"So... you guys don't have your powers either, do you?  That's what happened to you, isn't it Toad?" he asked.

"Yeah... so it happened to you too?" he asked.  Wanda just huffed angrily, refusing to give an answer, but that was answer enough for Evan.

"All the Morlocks are affected... we thought maybe the X-Men were too, so we wanted to warn them before someone got hurt."

"Morlocks?  What're they?" asked Wanda.  The term tugged at some half-buried memory of hers, partially forgotten.

"Underground mutants," replied Evan, as the unlikely foursome all started heading in the same direction down the street.

"Morlocks... Morlocks... why is that name so familiar?" she muttered to herself.

"H.G. Wells," supplied Evan.  Wanda and Todd turned to look at him curiously.

"What?"

"H.G. Wells.  Some author guy... apparently our leader liked one of his stories so much she named us after the Morlocks in the story..."

All the blood drained out of Wanda's face as she just stood their, frozen...

_It was nice to finally be able to read something, even if it was rather difficult with so many hard, long words in it... it was so lonely in the cold cell, so boring.  Professor Xavier was being very considerate by giving her his old book.  Then the guards came, dragging her away, the book fell from her lifeless fingers as she was tranquilized..._

"Sweetums?" asked Todd, waving a hand in front of her face.  "Something wrong?  Spyke 'n Stall went on ahead..."

"I'm fine," she answer angrily as she snapped back into reality, starting to push past him.  Then, glancing back, seeing how concerned he looked for her, she softened a little.  "Really, just... a bad dream... nothing more..."

Nothing more...

                                                ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Rogue sat in her room, staring out the window, watching the other students down below playing no-power soccer in uneven teams.  If they were even teams, it looked more like the typical free-for-alls that most of the new recruits seemed to enjoy so much, every man for himself, whoever scored got five seconds of glory before a new ball was retrieved and they could proceed.

Some things never changed.

And some do, she realized, feeling a fresh waves of tears start to come.

It was a shame, really.  Why couldn't she enjoy herself?  She'd wanted for as long as she could remember to be able to touch, to hold a persons hand, to share a hug, to kiss some cute guy.  But she'd spent the past few years building up barriers, physical and mental, to keep people out, to keep them safe from her lethal touch.  Now she could not imagine breaking them down, she did not relish the idea of being vulnerable.

There came a knock at the door.  A very tentative, quiet one, as if the person didn't want to bother her.

"Its unlocked," stated Rogue, taking a moment to wipe her face and remove the tear stains on her cheeks.

To her surprise, the door opened and there stood her former roommate, Kitty.

"Hi Rogue... how're you doing?"

"Ahm fahne," replied Rogue, turning her back to the obnoxious valley-girl.  Didn't she know when to leave a girl in peace?

"Listen Rogue, I was gonna go get a movie... and since, we uh... need to go with someone... why not come with me?  You could get that Dracula film you wanted so bad," she added with just a dainty little shudder.  Rogue's choice of movies tended to creep her out.

"Dracula 2000," stated Rogue.  She'd missed the premier, and hadn't had a chance to see it since.  To be honest, she -was- curious.  But still...  "Ya'll can go with Jean, I think I'll stay home."

"Rogue..."

"Ah said I'll stay here!" replied Rogue angrily, turning back to face the window, presenting her back to Kitty.

"Rogue get over him!" she shouted back.  Rogue's head snapped back around.

"What the hell are ya talkin' about?" Rogue asked angrily.

"Scott," she replied with a huff, crossing her arms and standing next to the bed.  Rogue growled, refusing to answer that.

"What, Ms. Perfects little pet?  I don't care about him."

"Rogue stop lying.  I know... Risty told me," said Kitty, her voice dropping, become more quiet.  She knew this was delicate territory, but she hated to see Rogue, one of her best friends, so depressed.

"You mean Mystique told ya," she replied darkly.  Thoughts of her adopted mother never failed to put her in a bad mood.

"It doesn't matter who did, Rogue... I know its true.  But get over him.  Scott's nothing special.... heck even I had a crush on him when I first arrived at the Institute."

"Good for you," replied Rogue, still not turning around.

"Rogue..."

"Kitty just shut up, I am not in the mood for this."

"Oh, you'd rather just sit up here and sulk all day, is that the plan?" asked Kitty.

"Not that is any of ya business, but yeah, that is!  Now get lost!" she screamed back at Kitty.  Kitty stood their shocked, and Rogue instantly regretted her harsh words.  Kitty had been one of her nicest friends, when they'd still been roommates.

"Fine... I... I guess I'll just go then," started Kitty, who whirled around, her ponytail bouncing as she turned to leave.

"Kitty wait!" started Rogue, as the door slammed in her face.

                                                ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Kitty huffed as she went outside to find a more suitable, and better manner companion to accompany her to the movie place.

Rogue could rot in hell for all she cared.

"Kitty wait!"

"Like, what do you want now?" said Kitty, crossing her arms as Rogue caught up to her in the living room.  Rogue grimaced, seeing the angry expression, and instantly regretted her own negative behavior.

"Listen Kitty ah... ah'm sorry.  Ah... I guess I'm still getting used to this..."

Kitty's expression softened and she smiled.  "Its okay Rogue, I understand how hard it must be for you.  But like Scott said, we should be enjoying this while its here."

"Ahlright... thanks Kitty," replied Rogue, smiling earnestly now.

"For what?" asked Kitty, puzzled.

"For caring," replied Rogue, giving the little girl a warm, heartfelt hug, which was eagerly returned by the bubbly teen.

A wolf whistle suddenly caught their attention, to see none other than the Boston boy Bobby leaning against the wall of the nearby hallway.

"Get a room you two!" Bobby said, giving them a knowing smirk.  They disentangled one another from each others arms.

"Bobby!" shouted Kitty, starting to give chase.  He laughed and ran off.

"Kitty, ah'll meet you outside in a bit.  I just gotta go change..."

"If I'm late its because I'm beating Bobby to a bloody pulp!  Get back here you!  Ooooh!" shouted Kitty as she took off after the Iceman, who ran for all he was worth.

Rogue just smiled.

                                                ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"_You have acquired most of the non-organized mutants?_"

"_Three sir.  One just vanished off the scopes before we got to her, and the one guy was crushed."_

_"And the latent?"_

_"Sealed up with a cadre of mutants sir."_

_"Very well.  Order all troops to withdraw for now.  Tomorrow we shall begin Phase III.  Those pathetic mutants will not know what's hit them."_"

**Authors Notes:**

As my English teacher used to say, a rushed job is rarely a well-done job.  I don't think Mastermind did a very good job either on Wanda.  And from Impact, we see that she still remembers Agatha teaching her, so does she remember Mystique introducing them?  Or how she was being taught to control her anger (focused on Magneto as it was)?  As for Rogue, this incarnation of her at least, she seems like the type who sees everything in a negative light.  But I won't torment her too much.

Impulsive Thoughts: I never read the comics, I don't know.  But I do recall quite clearly in the old animated series the two episodes concerning the Savage Land.  Sinister set up an anti-mutant field in the area, leaving all mutants by his own (wearing special belts) powerless, thus easily captured (except for Wolverine, who for some reason could still use his claws.  I think the creators of the old animated series forgot he had bone claws underneath, assumed it was all artificial).

Epona: That enough Rogue for ya?  No?  Well me neither.  More to come.  As for Romy, don't be surprised if I'm horrible at it, I don't think I'm going to do a very good job.

Optic Red: Oh there will  be many, many more chapters.  Enough to satisfy your hearts desire.

Soul Eater: Oh, but what sort of story would that be?  I have learned in my life as an author, the most captivating stories involve pain, suffering and tragedy.  Expect to see all three shortly.  For now, the calm before the storm.

Laerupeth: A fascinating idea, but unfortunately I might not be able to put it into motion.  School is already out.  As Gambit would say, its time for a real test.  As for whether or not Kelly is responsible or involved, well, you'll just have to see.

Elisabeth Braddock-Grey: Well thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you and thank you.  Glad you're enjoying yourself.  Interesting guess, you're the first to come up with it.

Rogue14: Oh, I shall


	8. VIII

Trapped, half-buried in the middle of the Nevada desert, Magneto's floating sphere fortress had now become a prison to some of the greatest mutants in the world.

Only now, they were no longer mutants.

Unable to open the fortress without the use of his magnetism, Eric Magnus Lensherr had immediately turned to his servants, but they too were stripped of their god given powers, unable to blow the doors or rip the steel, unable to penetrate the walls of the fortress or open the doors.  They were all completely trapped inside.

Eric sat in his chair in the center of the fortress, contemplating a means of escape.  They had no weapons, they'd never had need of any.  Oh they had a few gas canisters for disabling mutants (those that needed to breath anyway) but for the rest they had rely extensively on their own power, which was now gone.  To confound his worries, Victor was starting to get impatient.  The big man (now not quite so big, but still frightening in his own way) was pacing like a caged tiger, and Eric knew it was only a matter of time before his natural need for freedom and bloodlust drove him to attacking the other Acolytes.  Or, chilling thought, himself.

Worse, Piotr was standing to one side, thinking.  That was always a bad sign.  Eric had enlisted him for muscle, not brains.  But if he was thinking, he could be thinking what Eric was now.  Without his powers, one on one, Eric would be defeated.  Nothing would be keeping him in check now, except the threat hanging over his family.  Eric would simply have to be cautious in future.

"Oiy mates!" shouted John as he barged in, as usual, as loudly as possible.  Stealth simply was not the red-heads forte.  "Gambit says he thinks he found an exit!"

Eric, Victor and Piotr immediately gave chase after him, hoping against hope of escape from their metal prison.  True, they were safe inside, but oxygen was limited, since it was airtight, and their food supplies would only last a few weeks at most.

They arrived at one of the heating vents, currently off, since the hot Nevada desert did its own job of keeping the giant sphere well heated.  The cooling units had been switched on instead.  The sphere was designed, not only with its lord and master to influence it with a thought, but to conceivably survive in any part of the world for long periods of time.  Solar powered, it was damn near indestructible and impenetrable.

Remy slipped out of the hatch and leapt gracefully down to his feet.  Of all his Acolytes, Remy was the least affected by their newfound loss of powers.  The boy was incredible resourceful, as Eric had noticed when he'd first been recruited.  Agile, daring, skilled, he was everything his other associates were not.  If Piotr were the brawn, he was the brain.  If John was the cannon fodder, Remy was the scout.

"False alarm," he said, using his metal staff to slip the grate back into place.  "Gets much too small to slip through after about twenty feet.  And that just about does it."

"Damnation..." cursed Eric, slamming his fist against the wall in anger.

"There is another option you know," stated Remy, but Eric cut him off.

"Absolutely not.  I have been made to look a fool in front of Xavier once before... I will not do so twice.  Find a way out... all of you," he ordered angrily, stalking off as the others turned to one another, then once again divided up to search the sphere.  They'd been working for hours, each in their own quadrant.  Jason was still in medbay, recovering from his injuries.  After Eric had returned from the spider stone incident, he had been very, very annoyed, and Jason had been blamed for his error.  The illusionist was lucky to still be alive, but he would likely remain out of commission for the time being.

So they continued to find the impenetrable fortress for an exit.

                                                ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Remy LeBeau was beginning to get rather sick of Magneto.  He'd signed up with the man because he'd needed a way to test his skills and have a little fun, maybe meet a few nice mutants girls.  Things hadn't gone quite as glamorously as he'd hoped.

Still, if nothing else, he had met the Rogue.

And the pretty southern belle was certainly worth everything else he'd been through the past few months.

For now though, he was sick of Magneto.  He was losing sight of purpose with his stupid vendetta against the X-Men and Apocalypse.

Remy found that slipping into the communications bay remarkably easy.  Thought it was in the middle of the sphere, and thus not a priority searching for an escape.  The others were all checking there perimeter for a hole in the wall or some such.  Though he hadn't mentioned, it, he -had- found a way out some time ago.  Being a thief, he had an innate knack for finding the weak points in any system almost instinctively.  The sphere was no exception.  True, it'd taken him longer than most, but he'd still found a way out.  A narrow access tunnel running along the bottom of the sphere, originally designed for the tiny gas-robots to go in and out and stun those approaching mutants they had no desire to face directly.  Remove the robots, and even Piotr or Victor could've fit through the tunnel with little trouble.

Still, once out, what would they do?  Wander off down towards Las Vegas, starve and die on the way?  Plus, they'd have to leave Jason behind, he was in no condition to walk.  Oh no, he didn't think so.

Where was the fun in that?

Remy smirked flicking the switch on the communication board that was, he noticed, state of the art.  Useful in communicating with their many hidden installations around the world, where their gear and technology was stored.  Even if their enemies took out one, there were more than a dozen left over.  _Like a squirrel burying its nuts_, he thought.

"Hello?  Anyone recievin' me?" he asked, leaning against the console, smiling charmingly at the as of yet blank screen.  Suddenly it flickered, to be replaced by a rather astonished fellow with blue-black hair and a linebackers build, wearing a pair of glasses.  "Oh terribly sorry... must have the wrong number..."

"Gambit?" asked the man.  Gambit raised an eyebrow.  The man wasn't known to him... or was he.  Something about him seemed familiar.

"Yeah.  Was wonderin' if your Professor was around for a nice little chat," he replied.

"Certainly... let me see if I can't locate him," replied the large man as he moved out of Remy's view.  Definently something familiar about him.  The way he moved, the way he talked.  Yet he couldn't recall.

Still, he kept his thoughts to himself and smiled charmingly as the visage of Professor Charles Xavier came into his view.

"Bonjour," he said with a little tip to his temple and mock salute.

"Er, yes... Greetings, Gambit.  What can I do for you?" he asked.

"Well seems we're in something of a pickle here.  I suppose you all recall the last time you can visitin' us?" he asked.

Xavier did not know, though he thought he did.  Where Gambit was referring to the impromptu rescue of the Scarlet Witch, Professor Xavier thought he was talking about the destruction of the Rebirth, before he'd been recruited.  Regardless, the conversation continued with neither divulging that information.

"Indeed... a sphere that cannot be penetrated, short of the power of magnetism," replied the Professor, wondering where this was going.

"Got it in one," replied Gambit.  "Though you didn't mention teleportation as a viable way in, but that's neither here nor there.  Best we cut to the chase right away..."

"Very well, what is your predicament?  Not Mesmero, I hope."

"Nah," replied Gambit casually, though inwardly he trembled with rage.  He'd hated that mindbender for taking control of his mind.  If he ever got the chance he'd repay it him with a five-card hand... right to his ugly tattooed face.  "Nothin' like that.  But I'm afraid the main man here is sorely lacking in a way to open this giant sardine can.  And us sardines are gonna spoil in a week or so if our air supply runs low."

"Then it has affected you as well," said Professor X, and Gambit quickly pounced on the conversational tidbit he'd just let slip.

"Oh, X-Men lackin' them super powers as well?" he asked, flipping a card between his fingers in a nervous habit he'd picked up.

"Indeed.  But we still have some resources that may be able to free you... just give us the coordinates and we'll be there as soon as possible," replied Xavier.

"Near the beautiful city of Las Vegas, mon ami.  Maybe fifty miles north of the city.  Big metal sphere, can't miss us," he replied.

"Thank you."

"Naw, thank you, Professor X," he said with a tip of his hand and a deft flip of the switch, severing communications.  Now all he had to do was sit back and wait.

They'd come.

                                                ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"X-Men," he said and all eyes turned to him.  "We have an emergency.  Scott, prepare the Blackbird.  Bobby, get Sam and Roberto, we'll be needing the backup.  Jean, with me," he stated, and watched with a small amount of pride as his students quickly broke off to their assigned tasks.  Powerless, they were still a team.

"What's going on Professor?" she asked, as the two of them headed at a much more leisurely pace to the elevator and down to the blackbird.

"We've just received a transmission from Magneto," he replied, steepling his fingers.  "Apparently they are suffering from the same phenomenon as we are... they've become trapped inside of his fortress, because only he can open it..."

"... and he's lost his power," she said, not missing a beat.

"Indeed... that is why we are going to assist them.  Get suited up, and when the others arrive have them assist you in bringing in some of the high-power explosives from the basement," he said, as the elevator reached the final floor with a pleasant ding, and he exited, boarding the Blackbird with Scott, already suited and at the controls.

Within moments the X-Jet had been loaded and the cargo secure, the X-Men suited up and ready to go.  Scott opened the doors and brought the Blackbird out with the speed and precision of an experienced pilot as they adjusted their course and made their way to the Nevada desert to save their greatest enemy.

                                                ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"_All troops have been withdrawn sir._"

"_Excellent... now we can finally begin Phase III_"

"_Remember, I want prisoners this time_."

"_I'm aware of that, you freak.  You'll get what you want, same as I will_."

"_Just so we understand one another_."

**Authors Notes:**

In case anyone is confused, I shall give the Acolytes real names, as this story deals with non-mutants, and I will be using their non-codenames throughout it.  Also have plans to put a number of the Acolytes into civilian garb, which I'm still waiting for Evo to do.  Eric Magnus Lensherr (Magneto), Remy LeBeau (Gambit), Piotr/Peter Rasputin (Colossus), St. John Alberdyne (Pyro), Victor Creed (Sabertooth) and Jason Wyngarde (Mastermind).  I figured there was a reason Mastermind didn't show up in Dark Horizons, so this is my take on why he was out of commission for so long.

Elisabeth Braddock-Grey: Pepsi!  How dare you!  Coke is the way!  But the cheezits are nice, danke! *scarfs down on 'em*

Todd Fan: *enjoys it*  Sweeeeeeeet… thank you ma'am, may I have another? ^_^

Rogue Pryde: This Romy may disappoint you, though I shall do my best.

Impulsive Thoughts: More to come.

Gyuumajo: Rogue, Evo Rogue at least, strikes me as the sort who tends to look on the bad side of most everything, until her friends show her the good things.  That is what I have attempted to do here.  Fret not, for she is my favorite character, I will not torment her too much.  As for the movie, I wanted to pick something that said Rogue to me, I actually wanted to pick something from Lesli's "Night at the Movies" contest, but nothing seemed right to me, so I scanned down my own DVD collection.

Unknown Source: Same as I told Gyuumajo concerning Rogue.  I know she's not a manic depressive, but still, I hate stories where she loses her powers and suddenly becomes so open and free and all-baring (and sometimes even a slut).  Things will proceed gradually.  Oh and plenty more of all your favorite mutants coming up.  Plenty.  As for Wanda and Magneto duking it out?  Well, maybe later, but right now she's still confused, she doesn't have her real memories back yet.

Rogue14: My, my, so impatient.  No suggestions/complains/criticisms?

Snitter in Rivendell: That was a long weekend for me, gave me plenty of time to write.  Now unfortunately things are going to be a bit slower.  Glad you like what you see, plenty more where that came from, and things'll come up as quick as humanly possible.


	9. IX

The Blackbird touched down right next to the huge metal sphere that was Magneto's fortress less than half an hour later.

Eric grumbled at the monitors at the sight of his opponents on the monitors.  He knew damn well why they were there.

The Cajun.

Grumbling, Eric eventually decided this was for the best.  It would allow him a better chance of solving this mystery if he worked alongside his old friend Charles.  A pooling of resources was needed.  But later, he would have to make sure the thief was properly punished for acting without his orders.

                                                ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Scott was the first out, followed by Jean and the others.  He led, giving instructions as he pinpointed quickly the weak point in the structure, the sliding metal doors, at least a dozen inches of solid steel.  Still, they had enough explosives to bring down a small mountain.  Originally they'd been stockpiled to destroy the mansion in case the Professor had deemed it necessary.  After Mystiques attack he'd added additional measures to prevent a similar occurrence, and gathered some more from his usual sources.  Confidential Construction Company.

Scott actively preferred not to think he slept in a house on top of enough explosives to level Tokyo.

Bobby, Roberto and Sam carried the crates, placing them down and opening them up.  Not working at quite their normally timed speed, but that was understandable, considering they were working without Sunspot to lug the heavy stuff around.

Finally the explosives were in place, ready, armed, and good to go.  Everyone stepped back while Scott pulled out a megaphone and spoke into it.

"ATTENTION.  PLEASE STAND BACK FROM THE FRONT DOOR, DUCK DOWN AND COVER YOUR EARS," he added with a smirk, giving the Acolytes about fifteen seconds before he flipped the switch and pressed the button, detonating the explosives.

"Fire in the hole!" he shouted, taking his own advice and covering his ears.

(**Boom**)

Scott and the others ducked down, covering their ears just prior to the blast, as the sand picked up and rushed past them.  Professor X remained safely inside the Blackbird as the aftershock vibrations rattled through the air and ground, shaking up the whole desert.  Thankfully, any inhabitants who heard it remained unaware, presumed it was just another earthquake.  When the smoke cleared, they could see they'd done it.  A huge, charred hole marked the side of huge metal sphere, the sides twisted inwards by the blast.  A figure stepped out, shadowy in the darkness of the fortress.

A brown-haired man, clad in black t-shirt and jeans underneath his trench coat, instead of the usual garb that Storm had once identified to the other X-Men as thieves guild armor.  He looked sweltering in that brown heavy trench coat, but it seemed he didn't mind overly.

"Bonjour," said Gambit charmingly.  He smirked, glancing at the Blackbird as he leaned on his staff.  "Well now, don't suppose you all wouldn't mind if I call shotgun?"

                                                ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Rogue had gone upstairs and changed into some new clothes (her current ones had been wrinkled).  Kitty had finished off Bobby (letting him off with a light smack on the head), and they're rejoined one another in the garage.

Rogue and Kitty had barely pulled out of the driveway in the X-Van (they'd gotten permission from Logan, Rogue was driving) before they saw the strangest sight in their life.

Walking past the front gates was Todd, Wanda, Evan and a little girl, chatting almost... friendly like.

"Did mah eyes just play tricks on me?" asked Rogue.

"If so I think it happened to me too..." replied Kitty.  They stopped the car, turned off the engine and slid out of their perspective sides.

"K-Girl!  Alright!" shouted Evan, giving Kitty a high-five.

"Evan, what are ya doin' here?  I thought ya wanted to stay with the Morlocks," said Rogue quietly.

"I did... I needed some time to think.  Still do... but right now Callisto said we needed to let you all know that..."

"You lost your powers too," interrupted Rogue.  She glanced at Wanda and whom she could only presume was Toad, though he looked much different from the slimy, green-skinned punk who'd she'd lived with during her brief tenure as a Brotherhood member.  "You guys too?"

"Yes," replied Wanda.

"Did you guys get attacked too?" asked Kitty.

"Attacked?" asked Todd.

"Yeah... Scott, Kurt and Amanda were all like ambushed by these swat guys.  They tried to kidnap Amanda," replied Kitty.

"You don't say," said Todd, scratching the back of his head.  It was obvious he didn't care much.  Wanda smacked him on the back of his head.

"Idiot.  If they've attacked the X-Men, whoever they are, they could go after the Brotherhood too."

There was silence for about ten seconds.

"Get in!" shouted Rogue, slipping back into the drivers seat and revving the engine, as Kitty, Evan and Todd leapt in.

"Wanda, take care of Stall..." said Evan, giving the dark-haired witch little choice as the child was thrust into her arms and the X-Van's door slammed shut, then headed down the driveway.  Wanda grumbled, reluctantly taking the little girls hand and leading her into the mansion.  From her past experience she knew the kitchen was down... that corridor, she decided, and made her way to it.  The kid looked downright starved, and Wanda knew how it felt to be hungry.  Didn't she?

_Food was slid underneath the door... no, a picnic, with her loving father... she stuffed the stale bread into her hungry mouth... the biggest lollipop she'd ever seen..._

Growling, Wanda stumbled, leaning against the wall for support.  Her head hurt.  The little girl looked up at her curiously, big blue eyes regarding her from underneath the ugly Yankees baseball cap.  She tugged at Wanda's pantleg, just looking at her curiously.

"I'm fine kid," Wanda replied to her unanswered question.  "Just need some aspirin..."

Hopefully there was some in the kitchen.

                                                ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Surprisingly, Remy got his wish, sitting down casually in the passenger side next to the pilot, Scott.  The other Acolytes were crowded in the aft, and, like Remy, most had exchanged their uniforms for more comfortable garb.

Piotr had, not surprisingly, settled for something simple.  A white sleeveless and some gray sweatpants, easy to work in.  John was the most ridiculous looking in his Hawaiian t-shirt that was the clashing colors of blue and yellow.  A pair of shorts, sandals and his yellow tinted shades completed the look of a college student on Spring Break and, unsurprisingly, he'd brought along that damn zippo lighter and kept flicking it on and off to his own amusement.  Victor hadn't bothered to change, but it was clear he wasn't enjoying their little flight, and Remy suspected he knew why.  Wolverine.  Eric sat in the back next to the Professor, in his own black coat and hat, chatting with the Professor like the old friends they were.  Jason was in the back on a stretcher, still recovering from his injuries.  Though even Remy doubted that the Professor would buy that 'crates falling on him' garbage that Eric had told them when they'd arrived.

Remy kicked up his feet, leaning back with his arms behind his head, and settled in for the long flight.

"So how's the little beau, anyway?" asked Remy, glancing over at the pilot.  Scott Summers, if he recalled correctly.  Cyclops.  Kid wasn't half bad either, from what Remy'd seen of him in action at the London museum.

"Pardon?" asked Scott, glancing his way.

"What's the little missies name... the red-head with the white stripe," he said with a smirk.  Scott frowned a little as he regarded Remy.

"She's fine," he said, then turned back to piloting, trying to end the conversation.

"I know she's fine," replied Remy with a smirk, though he drew out the last word to suggest something other than what Scott had meant.  "I meant was she alright?  Haven't seen her 'round in a long time."

"She's in perfect health," replied Scott, still facing forward, and suddenly wished he had his visor, but it was in the compartment beneath him.  With his eyes uncovered, he wasn't very good at concealing his emotions.  And Remy seemed very good at pushing all his wrong buttons.

"Mmm that's good to hear," replied Remy, closing his brown, normal colored eyes and taking a nap.  He wanted to be well rested when he got a chance to meet his beautiful chere again.

                                                ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The ride to the Brotherhood house was short as Todd, Kitty and Rogue piled out of their vehicle and opened the front door...

... to see Pietro, Lance and Fred playing a friendly game of cards in the living room.

"Call," said Lance, spreading out his cards: a straight flush.  Fred and Pietro both cursed and tossed down their cards in disgust and reluctantly let Lance hoard his newly acquired wealth.  All three froze, however, upon sighting their guests.

"Oh, uh... hey you guys," stutted Lance, greeting them all, but his eyes were mainly on Kitty.

"What're they doing here?" asked Pietro, zipping around (as fast as he could now) to Lance's side.  Fred loomed behind them both, but Kitty and Rogue held up their hands in the universal 'I mean no harm' gesture.

"Cool it guys, they're here to help," stated Todd.  "Turns out the X-Geeks don't have their powers either.  And worse, they were attacked by these..."

"Waitaminute... no powers?" interrupted Pietro.

"Uh... no," replied Rogue.  An instant later the albino speedster stood right in front of her, smiling amiably.  Before Rogue could react Pietro had moved in and pressed his lips against hers.  She gasped in shock, her body seemed frozen, unable to move, unable to do anything but allow her to enjoy this... her first real, true kiss...

But when Pietro tried to French her, her anger returned in full force and she smacked him aside so hard she wouldn't be surprised if that red mark on his cheek would remain permanent.  He went flying through the air, slamming into the wall and collapsing on the ground at her feet.

"Itwasworthit," he croaked from  his now prone position on the floor.  Rogue glared angrily, wiping her lips as the other members of the Brotherhood and even Kitty took a step back from her.  She looked downright enraged her first kiss had been stolen by that arrogant, egotistical flirt.  Worse, Kitty had seen it.  The girl was practically gossip incarnate.

"Ya'll realize if anyone hears about this, ah'll bury ya so deep they ain't never gonna fahnd ya remains," she growled.  They all gulped and nodded, but Rogue knew it wouldn't take long for this to circulate through the Institute.

It was going to be a long weekend.

                                                ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"_Prototypes ready for testing_."

"_Perfect, and we have a candidate lined up already.  Begin testing_."

**Authors Notes:**

Colossus's civilian garb I modeled after his appearance in the old animated series.  Pyro's mostly sprung into my head, but the lighter of course was an idea from X2.  The scene at the Brotherhood house was, just a little something for the surprisingly large number of Rietro fans on ff.net.  But no, sorry, no more Pietro/Rogue for this story.  Seems my schoolwork has lightened a little, so expect some frequent updates in the near future.  I'm having so much fun writing this story, and I have not yet begun to fight, er... write!

Elisabeth Braddock-Grey: *enjoys his coke* Mmmmmm... Oh fret not, all cliffhangers will be wrapped up in time.  I'm just trying to prolong interest in the story.  Still, you of all people would be excited about upcoming developments.

Todd Fan: *enjoys another* Of course I remember Jason.  Jason's so tragic, even if he is a villain.  So ugly he cloaks himself in illusion, just like... well... a lot of people do metaphorically.  I think that's what I love most about X-Men characters.  They're 3-D, with backgrounds.  They're not just 'oh I'm evil I think I'll just destroy everything 'cause I'm mean.'

Caliente: Does that *points to the last three paragraphs or so* answer your question?  Actually I won't involve the kiss from Dark Horizons because my story takes place between that and X23.  I'm trying to keep everything within the plot of the X-Men Evolution episodes.  And of course Gambit likes Rogue, it was blatantly obvious the first time they met.

Gyuumajo: You just enjoy then.  Plenty more of him to come.

Rain: Magneto's always been that way.  Plus I'm gradually pushing him towards the arrogance a little more, since he'd have to be supremely arrogant to go after Apocalypse alone (Impact).  I mean, what was he thinking?  Serves him right he got destroyed.

*B: Glad you like it, that means a lot.  Don't worry, plenty of the big fellow, though forgive me if I can't get him portrayed rightly, I don't honestly know that much about him.

Xrex: I'll look into your story, but sorry, already have two original characters in it myself and that's my limit.   Still, enjoy.

Rogue14: Yes ma'am, right away!

Snitter in Rivensdell: The phone gave out because of unrelated outside interference.  Basically I just needed to have a reason for Pietro to be cut off from his daddy so he'd panic, and leadership in the Brotherhood could return to where it properly belonged, with Lance.  Or am I the only one who thinks that?

Unknown Source: Lots of pairings, actually.  The next couple of chapters will be filled with fluff and romance, so get out your vomit bags and be prepared to gouge out your eyes if necessary.  Just a few more chapters, the action will commence, and you should be fine.  Yes a Rogue/Remy is in the making, the other couple listings I gave a while back, but mostly I'm keeping in touch with the Evo episodes.

HathorCol: Oh alright, since all of you are bursting to know I will stop with hints and give one fact.  The villains are not mutants, but humans.  And, as most have noticed in the dialogue, there is more than one.  One of you reviewers has figured out the identity of one such individual.  That is all I will say.

Glaivester: I've added a few creative spins to the anti-mutant effects taking place worldwide so that the physical mutants now aren't.  Seems more interesting to me this way.  Though thank you for clarifying for me how the device from the Savage Land worked, I was unaware of that.


	10. X

Tabitha smiled, stretching out her limbs as she wrapped a towel around herself.  Hot water, especially a good shower, never failed to get her in a good mood.  She brushed her hair, the towel wrapped around her body under her armpits as she prepared herself.  The soccer game had been loads of fun, even without powers.  DeCosta had won, big surprise there.  The Brazilian had soccer in his blood, or so he kept saying.  Tabitha smirked to herself as she tied her hair up into the two ponytail/puffs on either side of her head she'd adopted recently, after _they_ had thought it looked better on her.

Tabitha sighed blissfully.  If someone had told her, two years ago, even one year ago, she was going to fall in love, she'd have laughed in the persons face.  Love wasn't real.  Her parents certainly hadn't been in love.  They hadn't loved her either.  Well, at least her dad didn't.  Her mom... Tabitha wasn't too sure about.  But why waste your time worrying about love?  Look at what it'd done to poor saps like Scott, or Rogue, or Jean.  They were miserable because of love.  Kurt was doing rather well... and for that Tabitha was secretly thankful.  He deserved someone better than her.

So it'd come to her as quite a shock when, one day, she'd fallen in love herself.

With Amara.

She doubted Amara knew.  The girl was too sweet and innocent.  And back on the pleasure cruise, the one time they'd been closest, they'd spent more time rescuing islanders and fighting the volcano.  She'd felt the affection back when they'd first teamed up as the Bayville Syrens with Jean, Kitty and Rogue.  But it was when Amara had flown up out of the volcano, her body magma, her hair flame, her eyes the most sparkling emerald she'd ever seen... Tabitha had known then it was love.  She was everything Tabitha pretended to be.  Kind, fun-loving, innocent to the darkness of the world and the sort of pain it could bring.  But whereas Tabitha's was a mask, Amara's welled up from her soul.

Tabitha smiled, dancing to a beat in her head as she exited the women's bathroom and danced down the hallway to her room to get dressed.  Fortunately (or unfortunately) no one saw her clad in only a towel.  Her room was as she'd left it.  It'd been briefly given to Jubilee after she'd left, but after the 'mutants coming out' event, Jubilee had left, and she'd taken it up again.  She lived at the Institute, since her mother could barely support herself and her dad was in jail.  But she was no longer part of the X-Man team.  Maybe someday she would be again, but for now it still wasn't a good fit.

She quickly dressed, picking her shorts and slacks because of the early summer heat, and headed downstairs to join the others in the living room.

With Amara.

"Hey girl," she said with a smile, plopping down on the seat next to Amara.  The dark haired islander smiled up at her, and inwardly, Tabitha felt herself melt.  She was so pretty.  But outwardly she seemed unaffected, as the two of them sat back together with the others for a post-game movie.  Unfortunately it had been Ray's turn to make a selection, and he'd settled on yet another screening of violence, gore and explosives.  Without poor Jamie present, of course.  He was way to young.

So Tabitha snuggled up a little closer to Amara as they watched the movie, who didn't seem to mind at all.

                                                ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Wanda had just finished scrounging through the fridge to find some decent salad (Kitty's, in all likelihood) and handed it and a fork to Stall, who sat down and started to shovel the food into her tiny mouth like she was starved.  Wanda smiled at that, grabbing a coke from the fridge and popping it open, taking a long, deep chug to ease her thirst.  The weather outside was getting abysmal, she thought.  But then again she'd always preferred it cool.

A sudden screech caught her attention, and she and Stall both turned to see a small, brown-haired boy by the entrance, gawking at them both.  One of the new recruits, she recognized, though she was at a loss to identify him.

"Y... y... you..." he stuttered, backing up fearfully from Wanda.

"Relax kid I was invited... I'm not here to hurt anyone," she said, sipping her coke again.

"But you're the Scarlet Witch, aren't you?" he asked again.

"I am.  But I am as powerless as you are right now, I imagine," she said, dropping her empty can on the counter and making her way over towards him in a non-threatening manner.  "Name's Wanda... Wanda Maximoff.  What's yours?"

"Jamie," he replied quietly.

"Nice to meet you Jamie.  This is Stall..." she said, waving her hand back at the other girl, who had just finished her salad.  She waved, smiling, and Jamie slowly waved back.

"If... if you're not here to attack us, why are you here?" he asked, staring up at her curiously.

"Me?  I got stuck with babysitting Stall," said Wanda as she sat down at the head of the small kitchen table next to her charge.  Jamie sat down across from her.  "The others should be back soon."

"The Brotherhood is coming here?" he asked, his eyes widening in shock.

"Well we all don't have our powers," she stated.  "I don't think its too much for us to stay in a nice, defended mansion instead of that hell hole that Mystique abandoned us in."

Jamie had no reply to that.  Wanda sighed.

"Look I'm sorry for snapping at you... losing my powers has put me on edge."

"I'm rather enjoying it," he said with a smile.  Wanda raised an eyebrow.

"Why's that?"

"Oh I can't control my powers yet..."

"And what is it you do, Jamie?" she asked.  She dimly recalled some of the other mutants powers from her brief encounters, but she'd never seen the kid do anything unusual other than run.

"I can... uh... create clones of myself," he said with a smile.  "Happens whenever I get hit... or something hits me."

"So if you fall down the stairs...?"

"There's usually about six of me by the time we hit the bottom," he replied with a little chuckle.  Wanda laughed too, amused at the mental imagery.

"What about you?" he asked suddenly, catching her by surprise.  "All the older students say you're dangerous, but they can't explain why."

"According to my mentor," stated Wanda.  "My power allows me to manipulate probability.  Like that can," she said, pointing to her discarded coke can, still sitting on the counter.  "See what its doing?"

"Just sitting there," replied Jamie, glancing at the can then back at Wanda.

"Right now it is.  But if I were to hex it," she said with a waggled finger to demonstrate.  "And my powers still worked, it would change.  There is a small probability, right now, that a gust of wind will push it over.  Or it'll explode, or catch fire.  Any number of things.  It even works on mutant powers, normally.  And if I concentrate long enough, I can even control what happens."

"So... you can make things have bad luck?" asked Jamie, his eyes widening in curiosity.

"Something like that," she replied with a chuckle.

Suddenly a soft whoosh sound was heard and Jamie jumped up, running to the window to look at the sky, where he spotted the Blackbird flying overhead on a curved ark, angling around to head in the waterfall entrance underground.

"They're back... I gotta go," he said, running off.  "Nice talking to you Wanda!"

"Nice talking to you too Jamie," she said with a smile.

                                                ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Let me guess.  Batman designed this place?"

Scott grumbled as he moved past Gambit and started with Jean to roll their unconscious guest to the elevator.  Gambit was seriously starting to wear on his nerves.  But as the elevator reached the bottom floor, Jamie burst out, immediately running over towards the Professor.  He barely paid any attention to the Acolytes, he seemed to have something big to say, so Scott and Jean lingered.

"Professor!  Professor!"

"Yes, Jamie... please calm down.  What is it?" asked Xavier quietly.

"That Scarlet Witch lady is here... she upstairs in the kitchen!" he stated breathlessly, taking a few quick gulps after his long run down.

"Oh?" asked Xavier, his expression one of genuine surprise.  He and Eric exchanged a glance.

"I will see to her Charles..." he stated, brooking no room for argument.

"They're as welcome here as you are, Eric," replied Professor X as he wheeled his chair forward alongside his friend.  Scott and Jean took the cue, using the elevator first to escort Jason to the medical bay with Hank and Ororo, where he'd be in good hands.  The others, including Jamie, remained for the second ride.

"So who are you, little man?" asked Gambit with a smile, leaning on his staff.

"Jamie sir," he replied, immediately trusting the strange man.  If the Professor had brought them here they must be friends.

"Remy LeBeau, at your service," the stranger replied.  "The big, quiet guy here is Piotr, that fellow's Victor, and the little nut in the back playing with his lighter is John."

"Nice to meet all of you," said Jamie, though he did not think it so nice to meet the fellow called Victor.  He looked vicious... and vaguely familiar.

The elevator arrived on the ground floor of the mansion quickly enough, and the others piled out.

"Go amuse yourselves," stated the white-haired man in the black coat with a wave of his hand.  "You will be summoned if needed."

"Alroight!  Party time!" shouted the redhead a laugh as he took off down the hallway with all the glee of a kid in a candy shop.  The others shook their heads and rolled their eyes, as if this sort of thing happened every day, and split up to find their own particular methods of amusement.

                                                ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Rogue, Kitty, Evan and the Brotherhood made for a tight fit, even in X-Van, and most of the blame was placed squarely on the hefty shoulders of the Blob, who was sitting in the back and crushing Todd and Lance, to either side of him.  Despite Pietro's protests to ride in front with Rogue (receiving a second smack to the opposite side of his face) he found himself in the middle with Kitty.  Evan rode shotgun.

"This woulda gonna quicker if ya'll hadn't wasted so much time getting' your stuff.  Its not like you're not comin' back," stated Rogue as she started up the car and headed out of the meager driveway of the Brotherhood Boarding House.

"Hey, Wanda needs those things," said Todd defensively.

"Yeah, like the negligee," grumbled Lance under his breath.

Rogue rolled her eyes.  It'd been over a year, and the Brotherhood hadn't changed at all.  They were still the same immature, stupid clods they always had been.  She was very glad she'd finally gotten away from them before she ended up as dumb as they were.

Rogue took the short route back to the Institute, her eyes alert for danger.  Though no one had attacked the Brotherhood, she'd heard about the attack on Kurt and Scott.  It had happened without warning, so she wanted to be ready in case it happened again.  Thankfully, there proved to be no need, and the X-Van rolled up to the Institute without so much as a traffic jam or car accident, despite it already getting late.  The sun was starting to set, coating the sky in brilliant purples, reds and oranges.  Rogue smiled.

Nature had been her refuge the past many months.  Though her touch drained the life from any living human, she had no such affect on any other animal or organism.  She wasn't quite sure about non-human humanoids, or even unnatural monsters like the dinosaurs from that weird dimension, but in a way she was grateful she never got the chance to test herself.

Thus, nature was her home and her haven, where she could go and be herself.

She parked the car and the others made their way inside the mansion, but she lingered outside, making her way down one of the gravel paths to sit on the stone bench and just gaze out at the beautiful sunset.

"Bonsoir, chere," came a voice, almost making her jump, as she glanced around.  Try as she could, she couldn't locate the owner of the strange voice.

"Who's there?" she said angrily, her left hand instinctively dropping down to her right wrist, only to remind her she wasn't wearing her glove.  No power.  Well doesn't matter.  Logan taught me martial arts so if whoever it is tries to attack me they'll get what they deserve.

To her surprise, her attacker stepped out of the shadows of a nearby tree and revealed himself.  Tall, lithe and statuesque, dressed in the brown trench coat she recognized immediately, the uniform underneath replaced with black and gray street clothes.  Only his eyes had really changed, from the mysterious red on black to a somber brown on white.

"Nice night, isn't?" he asked with a smirk, leaning against the tree.

                                                ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Eric dreaded this, but he supposed now was as good a time as any to find out just how good of a job Mastermind had done on his daughter.  After the incident with Mesmero, Eric did not trust his on-again, off-again Acolyte to be any use.  Now, safe as he was without either of them being able to tap their powers, would be as good a time as any to see if she still felt nothing but hatred towards him.

Wanda looked up as he entered.  Another was with her, a girl Eric did not recall existing on his records of the X-Men, though perhaps Charles had been doing some recent recruiting.  He would need to see to that himself, in the near future.

"Father," she said simply.

"Wanda, how are you?" he asked, cautiously making his way to the center of the kitchen, as the little girl and his only daughter continued to watch him.

"I am... well enough... what brings you here?" she asked.

"The same thing that brings you, I imagine.  Where are the others?" he replied, relaxing marginally.  His old daughter, the weapon of Mystique, would have torn off his head by now.  She seemed almost, calm now.  No hints of anger.  Perhaps soon he would be able to bring her in with the Acolytes along with her brother.

"No idea... Toad went with the others to rescue the Brotherhood.  They seem to think they're going to be attacked."

"Attacked?" asked Eric, seizing upon this new bit of information that Charles had failed to mention to him.

"Apparently two of the X-Men were ambushed by troopers earlier, these swat guys.  I didn't get many details..."

"Interesting," muttered Eric, rubbing his chin in contemplation.  "I doubt it is coincidence then, that our powers have suddenly failed us, and these men, whoever they are, have shown up."

"Wanda!  We're here!" shouted the over-exuberant Toad as he made his way into the kitchen with the other members of the Brotherhood in tow.  They all skidded to a stop when they saw the dark clad figure standing beside the Scarlet Witch.

"Dad, what are you doing here?" asked Pietro.  "IknewIshouldhavecalledyou,butthisstupidcellphonediedonmeand..."

"Enough," said Magneto, rubbing his temples at his son's rather overly enthusiastic excuses.  "Regardless, we are all here now.  You are all aware of the situation as I am, I trust," he added darkly, glancing at the less intelligent members of his organization.  Todd and Fred nodded enthusiastically.  "Good.  Then for the moment we will take advantage of Charles hospitality, and use this mansion as our base until further notice.  Is that clear?"

"Yes sir," replied Pietro enthusiastically, giving a salute.  The others gave more or less enthusiastic answers of the affirmative.

                                                ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"_Prototypes aren't operating at optimal efficiency_."

"_Who's fault is that?_."

"_Are you implying my technology is faulty?  You were the one who suggested these kind of modifications_."

"_Sir?_"****

"_What?_"

"_What?_"****

"_The ah, captive has recovered from the first test... should I bring them out for a repeat?_"

"_No.  Get the other one.  It'll make for a more interesting test anyway._"****

**Authors Notes:**

How's -that- for all you Romy fans?  Not much I know, but more to come.  But we've already had one family reunion, and another is on its merry way.  Oh I forgot to mention.  I will be following the original timeline of the XME episodes.  Which means that Cruise Control happened before X23.  Tabitha/Amara, sweet.  Must be the guy in me that enjoys writing that particular segment much.  I realize I'm going out on a bit of a limb here with that, so some feedback would be nice.  On a side note, did anyone here see "No Good Deed"?  I knew Lance was a good guy deep in his heart.

Snitter in Rivendell: That was an exaggeration, since it was mostly from Scott's point of view.  Besides, Kurt and Amanda were both shy to start out, but I think they've relaxed into their relationship by now.  They're at the kiss and hug stage, nothing more.

Rogue14: 'course he did, and worse.  But you all know he would've done it.

Todd Fan: Maaaaaayyyybbe.  Maaaaaayyyybbe not.

Unknown Source: Oh many more updates to come, since I've got some time to write now.  I really want to see the Acolytes in civilian garb, is that too much to ask?  Pyro, Colossus.  Gambit sorta does with the trenchcoat, even Magneto had that one seen in 'On Angel's Wings' with the black coat and hat.  For the comic advice, this may shock many, but I've never read a single X-Men comic in my entire life.  My knowledge comes from the shows, movies, and on-line.

Elisabeth Braddock-Grey: Well danke!  Now I have enough food and drink to keep writing all day and night long!  And yeah, Remy seems like a joker.  His best line from the old series: The X-Men had to go rescue psychics from Apocalypse, and he goes 'If they're psychic, don't they already know?'  Hehehe.  Classic.

Optic Red: It is Marvel, I know, and I'll admit there's a very slim chance both of them survived (more so for Magneto) but we'll just have to wait and see.  Yeah, fourth season is gonna rock!

Cal: Awww, and they're my favorite Evo couple.  Well, I invoke the dreaded 'fanfiction creative license' (tm!)  Beware!  I shall keep up my good work, and no one can stop me!  Muwahahahahahahaha!

Impulsive Thoughts: Probably, but can you explain how Spyke's uniform never shows a tear or hole, even after he shoots a spike out of it?  And just Scott vs. Remy?  Why not Kurt vs. Remy?  Or Logan vs. Remy?  They care about Rogue too ya know.

Goofn1: Oh, more of the Brotherhood to come.  More of all our favorite Evo characters, even if only briefly.

Glaivster: Oh no, not at all, I appreciate criticsm of the helpful sort you gave me.  To answer your many questions: Yes, Mystique will show up.  Yes, the device affects non-mutants who's DNA has been altered in any way, shape, or form, but we'll see not be seeing any Non-Evo Marvel characters (Daredevil, Spider-Man, Hulk, etc.) except maybe in brief cameos.  As for Magneto, I actually had no considered that.  Its brilliant though.

*B: Funny you should mention his drawing… just wait a few chapters while I get the chance.

Faith Darkholme: Creed and the FoH, a first time guess, very good.  Bastion, I've no idea who that is, actually.  Oh and more Jason (and more everyone) to come. 


	11. XI

"What the hell are ya'll doin' here?" asked Rogue, still crouched defensively.

"Just admirin' the view," he replied with a smirk.  She got the impression he hadn't meant the sunset, and she suddenly wished she'd gotten such revealing clothes.

After her confrontation with Kitty she was determined to finally enjoy her new freedom, and in the late spring heat she'd elected to grab her black halter, but left her usual green see-through blouse behind, and the just grabbed a pair of shorts and sandals to go with it.  Normally she would've been pleased to have others eye her as something other than deadly, but not this card-freak.

Rogue got up, starting to head into the house.

"What?  Something I say?" he said with a smirk.  She didn't reply, just kept walking, so he played his trump card.  "Sorry about that card."

"What card?" she asked, stopping in her tracks and glancing back at him.

"Card I gave you back at the Sentinel base... didn't mean to give you quite so much of a scare," he said.

"You coulda blown my damn hand off!" she retorted angrily.  She failed to mention that it had been mostly due to her own carelessness and... well... distraction... that she'd nearly gotten her hand blown off in the first place.

"Oh come now, if there's one thing I know its how to appreciate beauty.  The card barely had enough energy to create a flash and a noise... it wouldn't have hurt you too much," he replied, sitting down on the bench she'd previously been on and patting the seat next to him.  Rogue scowled, making her way over to him, but remained standing.

"Why not?" she asked.

"'told you... I know how to appreciate beauty..." he added, reaching out a hand to take hers.  Since hers were bare, she instinctively drew them back, but he was quicker, grasping her wrist and drawing it in close to plant a soft kiss on the back of her palm in a most gentlemanly manner.  She blushed in spite of herself.

"You're not exactly like I pictured you," she said honestly.

"What?  You spend your time picturing me?" he asked with a smirk.  Rogue grumbled, yanking her hand out of his.

"Shut up!  That's not what I meant and you know it!"

"Then elaborate," he replied, leaning back on the bench with a self-satisfied smirk Rogue would just have loved to slap off his face.  Still, she couldn't bring herself to do it.

"I mean you're not like Magneto... or his other henchmen.  You're almost a good guy, even if you do have an ego the size of the Mississippi," she said, crossing her arms, watching him deflate a bit.  Score one for the Rogue, she thought.

"Naw, Magneto ain't that bad... 'sides, I ain't in it for the whole Mutant Superiority thing he has goin," he started.

"Then why do you work for him?  You do work for him, don't you?"

"Just a bit of fun," he replied with a smirk, reaching into his coat and bringing out a deck of cards, which he started to shuffle.  "Nothin' I likes more than a challenge," he added, flipping a card up and showing it to Rogue.  It was the Queen of Hearts.

"Cute," she replied deadpan.  "Now you gonna pull it outta yer hat?"

"Naw... too easy..." he replied, flipping his hands and the card disappeared before Rogue's astonished eyes.  He smiled, holding out his hand.  "Remy LeBeau, at your service chere..."

"Stop callin' me that," she replied, though she none-the-less took his hand and shook.  "My name's Rogue."

"Really?" he asked, though he knew it was the case.

"Yeah.  I had it legally changed."

"Really?"

"Of course not," she added with something of a laugh, removing her hand.  "But you ain't gonna find out my old name, so you're just gonna have to call me Rogue."

"Sounds fine to me, chere," he said.  "But I think I can find somethin' else out about ya..."  he added as he sprang to his feet and moved in close, until the two of them were only a foot or so apart.  He towered over Rogue, and her first instinct was immediately to back away, but she glared up at him instead, not wanting to show how afraid she was.  Afraid, of him?  Of course not.

"Like what?" she asked.

"You like to hide cards," he replied with a smirk.  With a surprisingly deft and delicate move, he plucked his missing card from behind her ear as she gasped in shock, surprised he would get so close to her... she was literally stunned for a second that he had the audacity.  Yet another part of her, the part that was enjoying her newfound freedom from her curse, was wondering what else he could do with such deft hands...

"Your card, no?" he asked, flipping it around and comparing the portrait to her.

This snapped her back to her senses, and the part of her that was enraged took over, and she angrily punched him in the arm.

"Stay the hell away from me, you bastard," she shouted back at him over her shoulder as she stormed into the house, determined to grab something more decent before dinner rolled around.

Remy smirked, gathered his cards and placed them back in his trenchcoat as he watched the retreating Rogue.

"Didn't say please, Chere."

                                                ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Evan was wondering down the hallways, searching for Stall, when he ran into her.

"Evan!"

"Auntie O!"

They cried as they embrace, holding each other tight after so long apart.  Breathlessly Ororo asked how her favorite (well, admittedly, only) nephew had been as they both dried their tears away.

"Things are fine, Auntie O... really they are," he said.  "But I have to be going back now..."

"Why Evan?  You're fine now... look at you.  No more spikes.  And your mother and I have been ever so worried about you."

"I told you not worry about me," he replied, as the two of them walked down the hallway together.  "Listen, Auntie O... I found a place I belong.  A place I can fit in.  The Morlocks are really good people..."

"But you belong here, with your family," she interrupted.

"I never really fit in here," he replied, growing somber.  "Auntie O you saw how I struggled.  I wasn't cut out to be an X-Man.  I'm still not..."

"That's not true," she started, before she got the look in his eyes.  He wasn't just being some immature, selfish brat.  He knew what he was talking about.

"Auntie O, I promised Callisto me and Stall would return as soon as we were done here... I've already delayed it far longer than I should have when I went to help the Brotherhood... but I really should go."

"Can't you please just stay the night?" she asked, desperate.  She couldn't let him go, flit away his life in the sewers with the other Morlocks.  He would end up just like them.  Little did Ororo know, Evan was now just like them.

"Alright," he finally gave in with a sigh.  "As long as you can get a sleeping bag for Stall..."

"Alright Evan," she said with another good, motherly hug, as she headed off to fix dinner and get Evan's friend some sleeping accommodations.  She didn't notice the tears that formed in Evan's eyes as he turned around and headed towards his old room.  It hadn't changed, everything was where he'd left it.  A thin layer of dust told him that no one had been in since he'd left, so long ago.  How long had it been?  Weeks?  Months?  Time had little meaning in the Morlock tunnels, but he had missed his family.  Still, it was as he'd told Ororo.  His place was not here.  It was there, with them.  With her.

She needed him.

Evan sighed and shrugged off his green t-shirt, tossing it aside and grabbing some of his old clothes in the hopes of finding something without holes he could wear for dinner.  He might as well make Ororo happy in what little time they had together.

                                                ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

To Storm's surprise, instead of finding Kitty in the kitchen, half-buried in ingredients that were poisonous to mutants and regular humans alike, she found Fred.

Ororo watched curiously from the doorway the young man cook, tossing the pan up and down with vigor and enthusiasm that any other student on dinner detail (a rotational system) save Kitty would've lacked.  The giant of a man seemed to have his own kind of love for cooking as he did for food itself, slicing up some vegetables and tossing them in with the rice, setting aside some shrimp to cook separately as Ororo watched with a professional nod.  She was very impressed.

"I see I'm not needed here," she said, watching with just faint amusement as she totally startled the giant of a boy, who whirled around to see who was there.

"Oh... I'm sorry, were you supposed to cook tonight?" he asked, looking slightly frightened.  She smiled reassuringly, and he relaxed.  He seemed a much different person than what she'd heard.  Though most of that had been from Jean, after she'd been kidnapped.  Could this strong, innocent boy do such a thing?  Possible, she supposed, but she refused to believe it was out of evil.

"Actually no, it was Kitty's turn to cook," she replied, coming over to admire his work so far.  It sure did smell good.

"Oh that explains why Lance was so quick to suggest I cook instead..." replied Fred, going back to his work with a practiced hand.

"I take it your friend had a run in with Kitty's rather, er... special... muffins?"

"Yup... even passed some on to me," he added with a fake shudder.  Ororo laughed lightly.

"So what -is- for dinner?" she asked with a smile.

"Mongolian stir-fry," he replied, squirting some teriyaki sauce all over the rice concoction and little it simmer a little, filling the air with sweet smelling steam and the hiss of cooking.  "My favorite, picked up the recipe from this all you can eat place... since they tried to ban me," he added.

"Oh... how unfortunate," Ororo said.

"Nah, its okay," replied Fred, adding some spices for flavor.  "I agreed to stop coming if they gave me the recipe... its really simple if you have a pan and the ingredients... lucky you guys do."

"Indeed," she replied.  "Well thank you, it was most kind of you to cook for us," she said as she left to go take care of other tasks.

Fred smiled to himself, genuinely glad for the praise that he rarely received.  Humming a little tune to himself, he continued preparing a feast fit for mutants.

                                                ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Dinner that night was, to say the least, interesting.

Eric Magnus Lensherr, Magneto, sat at one end of the table.  To his immediate right was Pietro, and on down that line was the remainder of the Brotherhood and those Acolytes present.  Professor Charles Xavier sat at the opposite end to his old friend, Scott to his right, and down along him were those X-Men who'd decided to join him.  Most of the new recruits had simply grabbed their food and some plates and headed elsewhere to dine.  Of Sabertooth and Logan there was no sign.  Professor X was mildly relieved to see their guest, Amanda, had joined them.

Things were, admittedly, tense between the two sides, but Xavier had enough trust in his students to restrain themselves from immature insults or, worse, flinging food.

No one touched their meal, they all seemed to be waiting for some sort of signal.

Finally Eric raises his glass of wine (the students had only water in theirs) and offered up a toast.

"To New Alliances," he said simply, sipping his wine with finesse.  The students and Charles did the same.  Then the meal began.

"Professor Xavier," came a voice, and Charles raised his head.  It seem the young Russian Acolyte, Peter by name, was the one who'd spoken.  "I have heard you have a practice room on these grounds for training, is that true?"

"It is," he replied, grateful someone had started a conversation.  "The Danger Room is located down below.  I am sure one of the students can show you after the meal."

"I'll go Professor," said Kitty with a smile.  She was starting to like the tall, statuesque fellow.  It annoyed her to no end how quiet he was though.  Still, she had a thing for the strong, silent types.

"Thank you Kitty," replied Charles, continuing with his meal.  Comfortable silence reigned for a few short moments as the others continued to enjoy their meal.

"This is delicious," said Kurt between mouthfuls, then grimacing and quickly swallowing, doing his best to appear civil.  Amanda, to his side, giggled.  "Better than the stuff Oma's cooking back home, Ororo."

Ororo laughed then, musically, and shook her head.

"Much as I'd love to take credit for this it wasn't my doing..." she said.

"Oh... uh... Kitty?" asked Kurt.  All the mutants there felt their stomachs clench fearfully.

"Nope, wasn't me either," she replied, and all those around breathed a sigh of relief.  "Somebody already beat me to it."

"It was Fred actually," said Ororo, pointing to the large teen, who blushed and waved off their compliments, though in truth he was proud of what he'd done.  It was so much more satisfying than throwing cars around.

"Awww it was nothing," he replied.

"'There is not one wise man in twenty that will praise himself'," quoted Hank, sipping his own wine.  Eric nodded approvingly.

"Shakespeare?"

"Indeed."

Charles relaxed a little, seeing the two teams starting to chat casually like ordinary teenagers and adults, carrying on casual, even polite conversations.  It was a balm to his troubled soul.

Suddenly it looked like the young man... Remy, he believed his name was, shot up in his seat from a slouched position, wincing painfully.  Across from him, Rogue frowned and stood up, removing her napkin and tossing it onto her plate.

"Ah've lost mah appetite," she said, turning on her heel and marching off.  Remy smirked, but Kurt growled, low and menacing.

"Vhat the hell did you do to meine schwester?"

"None of your business," replied Remy, rubbing his ankle where Rogue had kicked him.  She certainly had spunk.

Kurt wisely chose to discontinue the conversation, especially since his attention was divided primarily between his meal and his girlfriend playing footsie with him.  His transformation had left him without shoes or socks (none had fit his original feet) and Amanda had simply slid off her sandals.

Finally, dinner came to an end, good-nights were bid.  Though it was early, some of them were exhausted from their long day of work.

Kitty smiled and took Piotr's arm, leading him down to the Danger Room while Lance watched in fury, anger, and a little sadness.

Still, he wished the poor dumb fellow luck if Kitty had her eye on him.

                                                ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Piotr walked alongside the young valley girl as she gave him the ten cents tour on her way down to the Danger Room, pointing out this and that as she all but bounced along ahead of the big fellow.

Finally the two of them reached the Danger Room and the door slid open under Kitty's touch (all X-Men handprints were on record) to reveal the big, empty, open room.

"I was under the impression this was a training facility," stated Piotr, obviously not very impressed.

"That depends on what kind of training you want... you wait here, I'll head up the control room," she said, closing the doors and leaving him alone for a few moments.

Then her voice came on over the loudspeakers and his keen eyes spotted the little missy up in a central booth high above the center of the room.

"Well what did you have in mind, uh..." she asked, trailing off... clearly unsure of what his name was.

"Piotr," he replied.  "Just something basic should do for now."

"Level 1 it is," she said with a smirk, tapping the appropriate buttons and switching the main console from lethal to non-lethal.  Logan must've been in here last, she figured.  "Enjoy," she replied with a final tap of the button.

                                                ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Hank and Charles bid Ororo good-night as they headed to their respective rooms, as Eric left for the elevator.  Due to lack of space, most of the Acolytes and the Brotherhood had been forced to take rooms in the underground complex, where the X-Men had been housed during the mansion's reconstruction.  Fortunately, it seemed they just barely had enough room for everyone without forcing them to bunk up.

The lights started to go out as the inhabitants of the Xavier Institute started to fall asleep for the night.

Stall would, at her own insistence, be sleeping with Evan.  Though Ororo had not seen much of the little Morlock girl, her meeting with her had indicated she looked up to Evan as her protector, and he took the role very seriously.  More seriously than anything he'd ever done in his life.  Evan was growing up too fast, becoming too hardened to the world.  The Morlock ways were bad for him, but there was nothing she could do to stop him if he was so determined.

Ororo sighed as she sat down at her piano, idly running a few fingers along the ivory keys.  Even thought it was dark, the moon shone through the window, giving her more than enough light to see by.

Ororo didn't realized she'd started playing until midway through the song, an old melody she'd learned in Africa.  She didn't know the words, it was just some nameless tune about hope and determination, how love conquered all or some such.  But it never failed to put her mind at peace, or entertain those who came to listen when she played.

"Nice song," came a low, guttural voice from the doorway.  Ororo paused, glancing over, but could not make out the figure in the dim light.  Whoever it was, however, was very big.  At least six feet tall, and very broad shouldered.  The rest was obscured in shadows.

"Hello?" she asked nervously.

The figure stepped into the light...

                                                ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"_That went rather well_."

"_Indeed._"

"_We are ready to proceed then?_"

"_Tomorrow.  We'll begin as soon as the remaining machines are operational._"****

"_Excellent._"

"_Take that repulsive thing back to its prison._"****

"_Yes sir._"****

**Authors Notes:**

Evo Remy seems to be free of the 'speak in third person' curse that afflicted Comic and the old animated series Gambit (something that really ticked me off).  The much awaited reunion between Storm and Spyke, and a few hints of Evan/Callisto tossed in (because they seem close to each others age to me in Evo).  And a little time in fanfiction for Fred.  I'm a big fan of under appreciated characters, and he's one of the biggest (pun intended).  If you don't believe me check out Neva's 'The Inside Story.'  I somehow doubt any sort of meal between the groups would've been anywhere near as peaceful, but it worked out well enough.  Especially the interaction between certain team members on opposite sides.  As for poor Ororo, well, you'll just have to see who the mysterious fellow is, but feel free to take a guess anyway.  As always, more to come.

Victim: Glad you like it.  As always, more to come.

Elisabeth Braddock-Grey: Oh alright, since you're so insistent... and such a good kisser... I'll bring in Psylocke.  But unless she shows up in an Evo episode, it'll just be a brief appearance, 'kay?

Todd Fan: Just now you get an ominous feeling?  Oh you just wait... it's gonna get worse.  By the way, you and Elisabeth Braddock-Grey gotta learn to share me, 'kay?  ^_^

Son of Logan and Ororo: I figured as much, but thanks for reminding me to make note of it.  I was going to have Logan slowly dying (because he's no longer ageless) but this'll make things even more interesting.  Thanks for the input, much appreciated.  If you liked that, you've love the next chapter.  I guarantee.  Both your parents are in it. ^_^

Spontly: Unfortunately, there will be little Kitty x Piotr in this, since I am sticking the original XME timeline as much as possible.  Thus, while they may share a look or chat, nothing past that.  Still, I do have a cute scene or two coming up.  Keep reading.

Gyuumajo: Kurt and co. are around.  Like the writers for Evo, I have to juggle around a ton of characters.  I got the Kurt and Amanda out of my system in the beginning, but don't worry they'll be back for more cute scenes in the next chapter.

*B: Actually the thing that sold it for me was Tabitha calling Amara 'my girl' all the time.  Now if she'd been a guy, does that not sound like couple behavior?  I dunno about the Sabertooth lifting Spyke thing, I never paid much attention to it.  But meh.


	12. XII

"Evening, Storm," he said as he slinked into the light.

"Sabertooth," she gasped, recognizing him by his dirty blonde mane and brown trench coat.  Gone were his claws and fangs, and his hair, once wild and untamed as the animal he was named after, now seem almost calm, smoother, and slightly shorter.  Gone were his thick sideburns, as well as the hair on the back of his hands.  Still, she could see the animal within him in those dark, haunted eyes of his.  "What brings you here?"

"You," he replied, his intentions blatantly obvious as he stalked towards her.  Ororo took a step back, fearful.  True, he was no longer a mutant any more than she, but he towered a good foot over her, and not all of his strength was dependent on his mutation.  He still looked capable of ripping her in half should he chose to.  "Been rather long, since I had a woman..."

"I do not have the time for this," she replied, glancing around at the exits, then starting towards the door that would lead out onto the porch.  Sabertooth grabbed her arm, restraining Ororo as he leered down at her.

"Scream for me," he said as he leaned in to kiss her.

By Storm was no child to be frightened, no little girl to quake in fear without someone to watch over her.  Ororo reacted purely by instinct, her knee shooting up and into Sabertooth's sensitive regions, 'causing him to double over in agony and growl in pain.  He clutched at his injury self, watching as Ororo shook off his hand and made her way to the door, opening it.

"For your sake, I will forget you ever tried that," she stated quietly, amazed how confident she sounded.  She'd been perhaps a little more frightened than she cared to admit.  "Good night, Sabertooth," she said, slamming the door in his face and leaving him to recover as she headed towards the gazebo to have some private time to herself.

She shivered, but it wasn't because of the cool night air.

                                                ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Victor growled, low and painful, as he managed to stand upright again, though his wound still ached.  Fortunately, the nubian princess hadn't hurt him overly much, she'd seem more intent on distracting him than giving him a wound.  He growled again, low and dangerously.  No one refused him, he thought with a wicked grin.

Suddenly his grin dropped, and was replaced immediately by a scowl.

"And just what do you want, runt?" he growled, turning around, none too surprised to see Logan standing there.  He was surprised to see the runt trembling though.  Rage.  Over the girl?  Huh, he must've claimed her already.   Strangely enough, he also noticed a few extra gray hairs in Logan's dark locks that he hadn't seen before.  The effects of living a hundred years without a healing factor must be starting to catch up to him.

"You listen and you listen good bub," said Logan, making his way over to Victor until they stood nose to nose (or at least as close as their different heights would allow).  "No one, and I mean no one, takes advantage of 'Ro while I'm around, got it?"

"Yeah, whatcha gonna do?  Call 911?" he asked.  Then, without warning Victor swung a fist, aiming for the runts head.  To his surprise, Logan caught it, and held on... hard.

"Seems you forgot somethin' bub," as he tightened his grip, crushing Victor's fist in his hand.  "You buddy, that ghoul in the black coat, made me undergo a procedure..."

Victor growled, grabbing Wolverine's arm, but he couldn't pry him off, his grip was like iron.

"Laced my entire skeleton with an unbreakable... unbendable... metal... called adamantium," he explained, punctuating each word with a powerful twist of his hand, making Victory sink to his knees.  He refused to cry out in pain though.

"Now, for you own good Creed... back... off!" he stated, still in the same quiet tones, as he pushed Victor flat onto his back and stalked off.

Sabertooth growled, rubbing his injured hand.

"You'll pay for that someday, runt," he growled.  "You're gonna wish you finished me off when you had the chance."

Logan heard him, and was starting to wish he had.  Growling, he clenched his fist, his stomach twisting.  He knew he was dying.  It wasn't just because he was starting to age, but it was the adamantium.  In his body, it was slowly poisoning him.  Unless his healing factor was restored, or unless it could be removed (he doubted that was possible without killing him now) he was going to die a very slow, very painful death.

He stepped into bed, and somehow, despite the pain, fell asleep.  Back in the Canadian wilderness, almost fifteen years ago, he'd learned how to deal with the pain.

Now he had to learn all over again.

                                                ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Things became peaceful at the Xavier Institute for Gifted Youngsters as everyone drifted off to sleep after their first full day of living without their powers.

                                                ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Well, almost everyone.

"Stall... wake up... Stall..."

Stall opened her eyes, looking up at the visage of her spikeless big brother, staring down at her.  He was already dressed, his skateboard under his arm.

"We have to leave now... be quiet..." he said quietly, helping her to her feet and out of the sleeping bag (she was still dressed).  He slid open the window quietly, unfurling his sheet and sliding it out the window to the ground, one end still tied to the foot of his bed.  "Me first, I'm heaviest... keep an eye on this, alright Stall?"

She nodded.

He tossed down his skateboard and slid out the window with little problem and hit the ground outside the mansion, holding his hands up.

"Alright you next," he whisper-shouted up at her.  "If you slip at least I can catch you."

She slid down the makeshift rope as he caught her and helped her, giving the sheets a final tug and bringing it down.  Might as well bring the damn thing with him, thought Evan, as he slipped it around his back and tied his skateboard to his back, taking Stall's hand as the two of them made their way towards the gate, opening them with Evan's password, and then closing them once they were on the other side, making their way back to the Morlock tunnels.

Only two people saw them leave.

One was Ororo, from the gazebo.  She easily guessed who they were, because she'd seen Evan leave before in a similar manner, and she cried softly as she realized she couldn't go after them.  She hadn't the strength.  She'd failed Evan as a guardian, and an aunt.  And she'd failed Vi as a sister by promising to protect her son.  She spent the night there, in the gazebo, cold and alone.  It was better than she deserved.

The other was Jamie, from his upstairs window.  He'd never known Evan terribly well, the two just didn't get along well.  But in the brief time he'd known Stall, she'd seemed so nice.  So naive, so sweet... so cute.  Alright, he admitted to himself, she was cute.  The first girl he'd ever thought so.  Rahne and Jubilee had been pretty, in their own ways, but Stall was just so innocent.  After dinner, when he'd brought her an ice cream cone for desert, her blue eyes had lit up like a Christmas tree.

Jamie sighed.  He was going to miss her.

                                                ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Eric lay awake, staring up at the ceiling.

His entire room was a prison.  Like it had once been, he was at the mercy of other men.  True, his old friend Charles was nothing like the Nazi's who'd invaded Poland, but Eric had sworn never to let that happen again.

That very day when he'd been rescued, by Logan and Captain America, he'd sworn never to be at the mercy of any man, ever again.  To be the master of his own destiny, for good or ill, and to die on his own terms.

And not it was falling apart.

Normally sleeping in a room covered in all sides by metal would be reassuring.  A room that would do his whim.  Now, it frightened him, and he trembled like a child in the darkness.

Eric growled, his stomach tensed with pain as he clutched his sides.  This was not the pain of fear.  This was not the pain of bad cooking.

This was the pain of rebirth.

Without his X-gene, he was no more than a normal human.  And cellular breakdown had begun.  Like Captain America, he was dying.  He had, a most, a few months left.  Even if his status as a mutant could be restored, the damage might not.  Already his cells were rejecting themselves, starting to rebel against his very system.

Magneto was going to die.

                                                ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Couldn't sleep either, I see," said Scott, as he sat down across from Jean, absent-mindedly pouring himself some milk.  Jean smiled at him over the table, still in her nightgown.  Scott was in his pajamas.

"No... it was... too quiet," she said with a shiver.  Too quiet in her own mind as well as out, every shadow seem alive and sinister to the pretty young redhead.  She could almost swear she could hear dark laughter, mocking her.  Mocking them all.

"Yeah I know," he replied, slipping off his sleeping glasses and placing them on the table in front of him as he absent-mindedly munched on a cookie.  "Plus I'm starting to get worried about Alex... every time I call his house I keep getting a busy signal."

"Scott I'm scared..." she said suddenly, grabbing his hand, and instantly she felt a little relief as Scott's concern and loving emotions washed over her.  By some strange quirk, the link forged by her ordeal remained, even though the psionic powers that had forged it had gone.  She could still, very faintly, sense Scott, and vise versa.  It gave her some reassurance.  "I can't help but feel something... really bad is going to happen."

"Hey relax," he said, giving a reassuring squeeze.  "The Professor and Hank are doing the best they can to fix this... and meanwhile we're perfectly safe here in the Institute..."

"I know, its just..." she choked on her words, tears welling up in her big, pretty green eyes.  Scott smiled reassuringly.

"I'll protect you, Jean.  I promise."

                                                ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Piotr collapsed onto his newly acquired bed, his body aching from the Danger Room training.  Still, it had been rather interesting spending most of his time dodging lasers and the odd grappler tentacle.  Afterwards he'd meant to offer his thanks to the little pony tailed girl, but she'd ran off before he'd had the chance.  Pity that, she certainly seemed nice.  Definitely nicer than anyone who worked for Magneto, save maybe Remy.

His thoughts turning to Magneto, his eyes closed and he scowled as he started to drift off to sleep.

"I will find you, Ilyana, sooner or later... until then I will have to endure this.  Stay safe, wherever you are."

                                                ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"No Kurt, I really should get to bed... its late..." Amanda said with a smile.  She and Kurt lay wrapped in each others arms on his bed, engaged in the make-out session to end all make-out sessions.  Both were still fully clothed, content to simply lie in one another's arms.  They had no desire to move their relationship at any faster a pace, which is why they stayed in the safe comfort of hugs and kisses.

"Come on Amanda, just five more minutes..." he murmured softly into her ear, breathing softly on it.  She giggled softly, since it was a sensitive spot on her.  He'd found it a few weeks shortly after the Sadie Hawkin's Dance, when they'd shared their first date.  And first kiss.

"You said that fifteen minutes ago," she said, tapping his nose playfully.  "Now come on Kurt its late... and its not like we don't have the whole weekend to ourselves tomorrow..."

"Ja, I suppose you're right liebchen," he said with a sigh, sitting up and adjusting his red t-shirt.  His tan overshirt had been discarded earlier, and he made no move to reclaim it as he escorted Amanda to the door and gave her a final kiss good-night.

"Come wake me up in the morning?" she asked, smiling at him coyly.

"Seven am," he replied.

"Make it six," she replied, as she walked down the hall to her own room and he shut the door.

Kurt lay down on his bed and tried to fall asleep, but it was impossible.

                                                ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

One by one, they all fell asleep.

                                                ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"_Everything will be ready by morning.  I've installed the remaining modifications into Model B, as requested_."

"_Good work.  Has there been any word on the subjects I desired?_"

"_Both are at the mansion, with the others_."

"_Excellent.  I am pleased with your work, you've done a most excellent job so far, for a wanted criminal._"  
"_Shut your mouth.  Don't pretend I don't know about your experiments either.  Technically that makes you a fugitive as well._"

"_I have been convicted of no crime_."

"_Only because they haven't come to light yet_."

"_Nor would yours, if not for your incompetence_."

"_Rrrrrr... enough.  We should proceed_."

"_I agree_."

**Authors Notes:**

I am a big fan of all incarnations of the X-Men, even if I happen to like Evolution the most.  The Sabertooth 'attacking' Ororo scene above was mostly inspired by the first movie, of course.  Jean and Scott's little interaction was inspired by Julia345's 'Milk and Cookies' story, who is a brilliant fan fiction writer.  Since their 'link' was mostly created out of love, it remains despite the loss of Jean's telepathy.

Todd Fan: Ominosity huh?  Works for me.  Well in that case you two'll have to catfight over me.

Elisabeth Braddock-Grey: I know, irritated the heck out of me too.  But the Evolution show has made me like characters I never thought I would've.  Jean, Gambit, Cyclops.  Heck the only guy I don't like (and I don't outright hate him) is Spyke.  And even he improved after they sent him down to the Morlocks.  Psylocke should be appearing shortly, but I confess I don't know much about her, can you fill me in?

Glaivster: Didn't think about that... soooo... shifted into another dimension!  I dunno.  But you can't tell me he can be -that- fat just because he eats too much.  At least part of its due to mutation, I think.  As for Project Rebirth, we only saw it enhance normal human characteristics (strength, endurance, agility, etc.) nothing a normal person with tons of training couldn't do (at least I think.  I don't know Captain America very well) so those effects remain in place for good ol' Magneto, though now he is of course dying.

Faith Darkholme: Curse you woman and your feminine wiles!  Of course Angel is coming, not for a while, but I'll toss in a quick scene with him in a few chapters.  As for Bastion, is he that super-sentinel from the future?  The one that can shapeshift and repair itself from damage?  The one who looks all big and bulky and... pinkish...?

Rogue14: You will soon see.  Tomorrow... it begins.

Gyuumajo: 'course he'd apologize.  You don't think he was trying to kill her, do ya?

Unknown Source: The evil Sentinel/Area 51 people monitoring mutants?  And what pray tell makes you think they're not responsible for it?  But yes all the human organizations: SHIELD, Hydra, the Sentinel makers, they're all aware of this.  Heck even that Weapon X ghoul is ('cause we all know he survived).  They will be included soon enough.  But since most of the mutants (in Evo at least) have gone into hiding at the Institute, and they try not to use their powers anyway (since nobody likes them) how would anyone figure it out?

Tailfeather: I was under the impression Professor X's disability was because of an accident (caused by either Magneto or Juggernaut) not his super-powerful mind.  Besides, he'd look silly walking.  As such, he stays in the chair.

Emerald Lightning Goddess: Awwww, well don't get too attached now... at least not two of those little stuffies.  Oh and you're a Spider-Man fan?  You'll enjoy chapter XVI then.

Ilyana Rasputin: 'fraid it isn't, but seems everyone has that guess.  More of your big brother Piotr to come, as he's one of my favorite Evo characters.  Heck I might even have you show up later.  I'll check out your story, but I'm no Pietro fan, believe you me.


	13. XIII

Morning came as welcome relief to the mutants at the Xavier Institute for Gifted Youngsters.  Saturdays were, like most teenager homes, times when you could sleep in as late as you pleased.  Still, breakfast was at seven sharp, and the students were up and alert, heading down the stairs to grab their pastries and fruits before it was time for Logan's training.  Hank briefly joined them for a quick bite, but then had to return to his work in the labs, and also in the medbay, monitoring their new patient.  To their surprise, the students saw that Eric was up at the crack of dawn along with them, as he grabbed some bacon and eggs without so much as a thank you and ate alone in the dining room.

Then the students started to wake up and filed downstairs in twos and ones to grab their breakfast which was, as usual, confusing.  Things were a little more subdued than most, but still, Ororo winced every time she saw her fine china being tossed to and from one student to another, as well as the utensils.  Sighing, she grabbed a croissant and some milk and decided to enjoy her own meal.  She sighed a little, thinking of her nephew as she headed back to the gazebo to eat in peace.

Scott, Jean, Kurt, Amanda, Kitty and some of the new recruits ate at the small table, joined shortly by the Brotherhood and some of the Acolytes.  Victor was, not surprisingly, still not with them.  The man spent too much time by himself, just stalking the halls of the Institute, glaring and growling at anyone who got in his way.  Wanda had slept in.

"Morning students," rumbled Logan as he slipped in and grabbed some sausages on a plate, reluctantly grabbed a knife (he preferred his claws) and started to eat at his customary place by the windowsill.  As usual when he enter the room, conversation died down, students grew calmer, and everyone was as polite as if they'd been raised by nuns.

After breakfast the students headed back to the respective rooms while the guests (save Amanda) scarfed down the leftovers, still under the watchful eye of Logan.

Remy smirked, searching the shelves, and gave a smile and a faint cry of delight as he found what he'd been looking for... he started to reach in...

"Forget it bub," came the cold voice to his left.  "Those're mine."

"Aww, come now, Monsieur Logan, surely you can find it somewhere in your heart to share just one can, mmm?"

"Not likely," replied Logan, folding his newspaper under his arm and slamming the cupboard door shut, glaring at Remy before stalking past him.  "Besides, ain't you under aged?"

"Possibly," replied Remy with a smirk.  Logan growled.

                                                ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The students lined up outside, dressed in their white gi's.  Amanda wore a spare of Rogue's, since the two girls were almost the same size.  Professor Xavier had learned, very early on, that dealing with mutants, especially mutant teenagers, tended to mean that they went through uniforms and gear very quickly, even by accident.  Thus, most of them had at least two of any given set of clothes, if not three.  He'd been experimenting with some of his colleagues on nano-fibers that would be, essentially, self-repairing clothes, but so far he'd only managed to make one suit out of it.  It'd been given to Evan as his uniform, and now sat in his locker, unused.

The students lined up as they had before their sensei, Logan, both sides bowing respectfully to one another, as they began their lesson.  If any of them noticed the few strands of grey that had started to creep into his hair, they were respectfully quiet about it.  From the upper balcony, Eric and Charles watched them.

"Your students do you credit, Charles," said Eric, hands in his black coat's pockets.  "They have done more than flourish... they have excelled, even in such troubled times."

"Indeed they have," replied Charles, smiling, very proud of his students.  "But I fear the future will not be pleasant for them."

"As I suspect it would not," replied Eric, almost smugly.  "Though it is good, to no longer hide who we are."

"I suppose it is," said Charles, considering how, most of his life, he'd led a public lie.  "But I would have spared them this pain, if I could."

"Pain is a teacher, Charles," replied Eric darkly, as he turned to exit the balcony.  "Pain makes you stronger, in the end."

Charles wheeled after him in his chair, sighing quietly.  Though he'd often missed these talks with his old friend, he wished he could sometimes open his eyes and see the beauty that life held, as well as the peril.

                                                ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Kurt landed hard onto his back, groaning immediately as he stretched out and slapped the ground to cushion his blow a little, as he'd been taught.

"Good throw," said Logan with a nod.

"Ja, very good," said Kurt, as Amanda sheepishly gave him a hand up.  "You're really getting good at this."

"Logan's a good teacher."

Another thump and a groan drew their attention as they saw that Rogue didn't share the same sentiments.  She'd just been landed by Scott, who gave her a hand up.  But, instead of helping herself up, Rogue smirked, grabbed his hand and twisted her body, throwing Scott flat onto his butt on the grass next to her as she regained her feet with a grin.

"Owww... glad you're on our side," he joked as she helped him up.

"Definitely," she replied, giving him a pat on the back before they returned to their exercises and practices.

                                                ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Ah, Mr. Wyngarde, I presume," stated Hank as he enter the medbay, seeing his current patient was, for the moment at least, conscious.

"What is this... where am I...?" he asked, his eyes darting about, confused.

"Fear not, sir, you're in the Xavier Institute for Gifted Youngsters... your comrades brought you here shortly following a rather interesting chain of events..." Hank started.

"Who are you?" asked Jason suspiciously, trying to sit up, grimacing at the pain in his chest.

"Please, Mr. Wyngarde, calm yourself... my name is Dr. Henry McCoy.  I am here to assist in your recovery..."

"I don't need assistance," replied Wyngarde, his eyes narrowing as he gestured at Hank strangely.  "My wounds are fine... see...?"

"No, they are not," replied Hank.

"Yes, they are," replied Wyngarde, his voice raising.  Hank, realizing what he was doing, chuckled aloud.

"Ah, you've not been made aware of the phenomenon that occurred yesterday morning, have you?" he asked, as he checked the heart-rate monitor.

"Why... what is wrong?"

"All mutant powers have been, for lack of a better word, suppressed... we no longer can call upon them, whatever they may be."

"My illusions!" cursed Wyngarde, sitting up, but Hank was there, holding him down, gently restraining him.  Jason growled, covering his hideous features.  "Curse il cielo per che cosa hanno fatto a me," he cursed in Italian.  Though Hank was not fluent in Italian (his interests lay in the ancient rather than the modern) he did get the jist of it.

"How dramatic," he said, deadpan, as he adjusted the sedative drip on the former illusionist, who lay back in his bed, huddled, covering his hideous features.  "You should be fine in a few days provided you do not strain yourself overly," he said with a smirk, as he started to depart and return to his research.

"Scarlet Witch!" shouted Wyngarde, almost springing out of his bed, the needle ripped out of his arm as Hank was at his side again, gently restraining the wiry man.  "Magneto must know... he must... illusions... fail... no..." he collapsed, rambling, as Hank applied a stronger sedative and gently knocked the poor fool unconscious.  He would have to inform both the Professor and Magneto about this, if indeed he had something important to tell his employer.

Jason muttered in his sleep, as Hank returned to his lab, trying to unravel the mystery that plagued mutantkind.

                                                ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Piotr found himself in the lounge today.  None of his comrades were present, nor the X-men, they all seemed to be engaged outside.  Everything was remarkably quiet.

Perfect.

Piotr dug into his satchel and produced a pad of paper and a pencil, starting to sketch as images came to his mind.  A longtime hobby of his, he hadn't had much time to practice since he'd become Magneto's, how he hated that term, lackey.  Nor had he had much time back home, where his power had been needed on the farm.  But still, he was relieved to see he could still put pencil to paper and make beautiful images come forth.

He didn't even really focus on what he was drawing, letting his hand and pencil decide, it wasn't until he was halfway finished he realized what he'd drawn on the paper.

Her face.

Belatedly, he reached up to tear off the paper and start a new... then realized how good it looked.  How gently, how innocent, how untouched by the darker life he'd been forced to endure.

Scowling darkly, he did rip off the paper, crumpled in up as he'd once crumpled steel bars, and tossed it into a nearby garbage can, placing his things away.

He had more important things to worry about now than a pretty face, and a rival team member, no less.  He had to worry about his family.  He was Ilyana's big brother, it was his job to keep her and their parents safe.  He'd failed them once before, when Magneto had come to them, but he would not fail them twice.

He slammed his fist into the wall as he made his way down, back to the Danger Room, to train and prepare.

                                                ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"_Begin Phase III.  Hunt them all down_."

"_Soon they will be ours_."****

**Authors Notes:**

No more evil scientist banter.  In this segment, you will soon see -exactly- who is behind all of this.  Ah, Logan's beer, and Remy trying to swipe one.  Think he'll succeed later?  For that matter, does Evo Remy look old enough to legally drink?  I'm assuming Jason is either Italian or has lived some time in Italy, since that was where Magneto picked him up, and even with illusions its still easier if you know the language.  For the record, all translations in German, French and Italian I'm using an on-line translator.  Any mistakes I immediately apologize for.

I will now suggest that, everyone go back, re-read the story, notice any and all subtle foreshadowings I've put in, and prepare yourselves.  What you are about to see will blow your mind.

Comet-Hime: I'm downplaying the Evan/Callisto for now, since I'm -really- going out on a limb on that one.  But still, she'd be good for him, wouldn't she?  Her all serious and responsible and him all playful and immature.

Son of Logan and Ororo: X23 is involved, yes.  And one of your guesses was right on the nose, as you've no doubt already seen.  Actually that's an interesting question and I don't honestly know what to make of Daredevil.  I saw the movie (then again who didn't.  For the record, Michael Clark Duncan is no kingpin) but that's about it.  Are his powers due to enhanced or mutated genes?  Does anyone know?  And actually I got another question for you, concerning your name... does that make X23 your sister or what?

*B: Maybe that's why they changed the credit for season three.  In any case, why're they still showing Spyke if he's up and left?  Oh and Logan isn't dying from Rebirth, he's dying because he's -that- -frickin- -old-.  I owe the Son of Logan and Ororo for filling me in about the adamantium though. 

Elisabeth Braddock-Grey: Where the hell are you getting this?  Does your dad own a cheezits, pepsi and m&m's factory or something?  Hehe.  Thanks for the info on Psylocke, she does seem like a cool character from what little I've seen of her.

Gyuumajo: What, that part where he chased after Wanda wasn't enough for ya?  Well, me neither... don't worry, every Toad has his day.

Rogue14: Prepare for mega creepiness to come.

Emerald Lightning Goddess: I mean, some very bad men are gonna take two of 'em away.  Muwahahahahaha!

Unknown Source: Cameos coming up in chapter XVI, hold your horses until then.  As for human involvement... next chapter!  Wait until then!

Faith Darkholme: Well, alright.  Seems obvious I don't know much about Sentinels other than your generic pink n' purple ugly giants.  And of course the mega cool prototype Trask unleashed in Day of Reckoning.  But thank you for the info none-the-less.  It has been most enlightening.

CrypticIdentity: Thanks, I figured it was Juggernaut, but it was just an accident.  Most informative.  Psylocke to come soon, I am ready to create her.

Andtauriel Longwood Baggins: My fast updates are quickly coming to an end, sadly.  But more of everyone to come.  Every X-Man, X-Woman, and Mutant in all of the Evo-verse will have their screen time.

Gumdrop Boo: Glad you approve, but I'm nobody special.  Other XME authors and authoresses deserve more credit than I for inspiring me to make this.

Optic Red: Of course not, this is Marvel!  Nobody's gonna die... well, most of 'em won't die... well... *covers up his half-written plots about rather gruesome slaughters*

Glaivester: Definently a nice little plot device for second season X-Men.  But you're right, it doesn't apply to my story.  As for Bastion, maybe I'll include him in another story of mine someday in the future, but for now.

Ilyana Rasputin: Well technically I love all the Evo characters as my favorites.  I'm simply obsessed with the show.  Concerning your guess, well, you'll just have to wait and see.  Just out of curiousity though... are you, Ilyana, a mutant too?  I keep hearing things but I can't seem too sure.  Something about Mystic?  If you have any info it'd be welcome.  Maybe I'll give you more screen time than just some thoughts in big bro's head.

ChaosCat: Wow, what an informative review (not to mention long).  Let me see if I can cover a few of those.  One, Tabitha/Amara.  I agree, Tabitha is very direct when she wants to flirt or just be friendly... but do any of us act normal when in love?  Especially when it's a strange or unusual love?  She's not ready for it yet, so for now she's keeping her thoughts to herself.  As for Sabertooth, he's getting restless, so naturally he needs something to do since he's so... base.  Like an animal.  And why would he fear Magneto?  Apart from the fact Magneto wouldn't care about Storm, he's powerless now, so's Wolverine... though he quickly learned his mistake in that regard.  As for Storm, she was scared... she doesn't have her powers anymore either.  For the villain, well, you're close... but not quite.  You'll see yourself soon enough.  Thanks for the cookie.

GryffindorSeeker: Oh more will come in due time.  And thank you for the review.  All are appreciated.  Enjoy the rest of the story as it develops.


	14. XIV

The attack came with no warning, that very day, shortly before noon.

Inside the mansion, everyone was interacting, having fun, talking.  John and Roberto had teamed up against Amara and Tabitha for a game of pool, guys vs. girls.  Scott and Jean were up in the room, studying for some big finals coming up and also some early preparation for graduation.  Rogue was busy trying to avoid Remy, who seemed to be waiting around every corner for her with a smile and open arms.  Piotr trained in the Danger Room with Victor, none of whom spoke to one another, except perhaps vague nods of approval or various sneers of disgust.

Charles, Eric and Hank were in the labs, studying the mutant cells, trying to find the cause of the mutant phenomenon.  And the rest had become coach potatoes, watching Saturday morning cartoons in the lounge.  KidsWB never had a more loyal audience than the New Recruits.  Especially Jamie.

Suddenly an explosion went off, and another, big booms that sent everybody's attention towards them.  Scott rushed to the window, seeing that the gates had been blown down, and a black tank-like vehicle was crashing over the twisted metal, driving down towards the mansion.  To make matters worse, swat soldiers, like they'd seen before, were scaling the walls, marching towards the mansion in organized, efficient sweeps.

The automated defenses weren't working, inside or outside of the mansion... something had gone wrong...

                                                ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Kurt and Amanda were enjoying an early lunch in the dining room when they'd first heard the explosions.  Suddenly the window was blown off its hinges by a small grenade, sending them both scuttling for cover behind the kitchen table.  Two troopers stormed in, tasers raised as they took aim.  Kurt, thinking quickly, grabbed Amanda and the two of them flipped the table up and ducked down behind it as the taser bolts slapped into the table harmlessly.

"Let's get out of here!" he shouted, as he grabbed Amanda's hand and the two took off with the troopers in pursuit.  Midway down the hall they slammed into an astonished Rogue and Remy, who'd been running in the sounds of the explosion in the kitchen.

The troopers had brought company, four more joined them and piled into the hallway, the first two ducking down and taking aim at the same time as the second two behind them.  Rogue and Kurt flipped backwards as four taser lines snapped off, narrowly missing their feet.  Kurt landed awkwardly, still unused to his current form's lack of agility, while Rogue landed with the grace of an acrobat.  Remy grabbed her and quickly got the two of them out of the line of fire in a nearby room.

Kurt was about to grab Amanda and perform a similar move when the last two troopers moved forward, one getting off a lucky shot and Amanda screamed as close to a thousand volts ripped through her system, dropping her like a sack of flour.

Kurt, enraged, his eyes almost burning with anger, did the stupidest thing he'd ever done in his life.  So stupid the sane part of him wondered if he had been spending too much time watching Jackie Chan movies.  He leapt forward, fist and feet flying, right towards the troopers, one of whom grabbed a cattle prod from  his belt and slammed it into Kurt's chest, knocking him to the ground alongside Amanda.

"Scheisse," he cursed, struggling to try and get back up as the two converged on them.  "Ich bin traurig, daß ich Sie verließ, Amanda."

Then all went dark.

                                                ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Troopers slammed in through the windows, and Scott yanked back his head as tasers lines burst down the hallway towards his head, sliding back into Jean's room, shutting the door and pushing her dresser in front of it.

Jean had already taken charge herself, climbing up on her bed and sliding a secret panel from overhead.  Scott placed his hands together, giving her a foothold, and she slid up and into the upper passageway, giving him a hand up just as the door burst open and troopers filed in, narrowly missing them as the secret panel was slid into place.

"Okay we're safe," he whispered in the dark.  "What now?"

"We have to alert the others... quick... I think some were in the rec room," she said as she started to crawl forward down the narrow passage.  Scott's more, instinctive drives were quickly overwhelmed by the sense of danger, and he ignored watching Jean as he crawled after her.

"Okay... we alert them, join Professor X in the labs, and take elevator to the blackbird... we can escape that way."

The secret tunnels had been constructed with this sort of invasion in mind, all over the mansion, known only to the older students and the teachers themselves.  They were completely soundproof, so no one could hear someone inside of them, and wide enough to accommodate even the Beast's broad shoulders if worse came to worse.  Thus, Scott and Jean had no intentions of being caught.

Which is why, when they dropped down into the rec room, they were surprised to see half a dozen troopers waiting for them, and Tabitha, Amara and Roberto unconscious on the floor.  John was nowhere to be found.

Tasers fired, Scott and Jean were hit...

                                                ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Let go of me!"

"Chere come on, we can use the window, get the hell out of here..."

She shook him off angrily.  "No, I need to help them!" she shouted, pushing him off and making her way to the bookcase.  The two of them had winded up in the library after escaping the troopers, and Rogue hoped that her brother and Amanda had managed to escape.  Angrily she grabbed a book of the bookcase (titled, ironically, the Great Escape) and the case obligingly swung open at the bottom.  Rogue beckoned Remy to follow, which he did with much gusto as she got down on all fours to navigate the narrow tunnels.  He slid along after her.

"You been working out, chere?" he asked, admiring the view.

"Shut up," she grumbled over her shoulder back at him.

The two of them emerged in the kitchen, out of one of the lower cupboards (which was, curiously, usually always empty) and thankfully saw no further sign of the troopers.  They spotted Lance and the other brotherhood members milling about, unsure of what to do or where to go.  Surprisingly, Kitty was with them.

"Rogue!  There you are!  What is going on?!" shouted Kitty, as if the goth girl knew anything more than she did.

Before she could ask that very question, another explosion went off and the front doors were blown off their hinges, showering the room with hot air and deadly, jagged glass.  Cursing, Remy grabbed Rogue and yanked her back into the kitchen as Lance pushed Kitty into an adjacent hallway out of harm's way.

Troopers stormed in, and unlike the first couple of groups they didn't have tasers.

They had guns.  Big ones.

And they didn't look like they were going to be stingy about ammunition.

Bullets rang through the air, forcing the Brotherhood to duck behind various pieces of furniture.

"Fred, couch now!" shouted Lance, and Fred grabbed the couch, flipping it over to provide better cover as the Brotherhood cowered behind it, safe but pinned down for the moment.  Remy and Rogue watched from the kitchen.  She started to head forward, but he grabbed her arm.

"You head out there now you're gonna get killed," he said.  Angrily she shook off his arm.

"We have to help them," she yelled in his face.  Standing their, her hair messed up from the explosion, her eyes flashing angrily, she was the most beautiful sight Remy had ever seen in his life.  Cursing, he stood, smashing open the cupboard (not surprisingly, Logan had locked it) and grabbed a bottle of wine.  Good year, he noticed.  Grumbling, he uncorked it, crouching back down next to Rogue.

"What the hell are you doing?" she asked in exasperation.  Her friends (alright, not exactly friends) were in trouble, and he was getting a drink?!

"Helpin', just like chere requested..." he replied, roughly grabbing her purple over-shirt and tearing off a sleeve as she watched in shock, scooting away from him.  Now he was trying to rip her clothes off?!

But then she noticed he'd torn off a thin strip, sliding it into the open bottle, and recognized his plan immediately.  Alcohol made for a halfway decent explosion.

"I need a light," he stated, glancing at her.  She checked her pockets, but nothing.

Suddenly a lighter, lit, was thrust between them.

There stood their resident pyromaniac, crouched down alongside them, his sunglasses askew.

"This do ya, mate?" asked John, with a smirk.  Remy didn't reply, just lit the trailing cloth, glancing into the room as bullets continued to fly over the Brotherhood's heads.

"Hey you!  Got a present for ya!" he said as he chucked the flaming bottle into their midst.

The soldiers quickly withdrew as the bottle shattered, shooting off waves of alcohol and liquid flame all over the place.  The sprinkler system kicked in immediately, showering the room and, best of all, obscuring vision.  The Brotherhood made a break for the kitchen, but Lance hesitated.

"Lance, come on man!" shouted Todd.

"I can't... I have to go get Kitty!" he replied, taking off down the opposite hallway after his ex-girlfriend.

Todd and Fred grumbled, their opinions of the Lance's girlfriend well known, as they started to join Remy and Rogue.  Before they got too far however, the soldiers returned and tasered them both, knocking them out as Rogue, Remy and John reluctantly fled back into the tunnels.

                                                ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Logan cursed as he grabbed his black coat and slid it on.  He knew this was going to happen, but there was no way anyone was prepared.  He wasn't going to be much use himself without his claws.  He was gonna need a weapon.

In his room, so far safe from the troopers attack, he reluctantly got down and reached under his bed, drawing out something he'd hoped never to use again.

"They're gonna regret this..."

                                                ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Ray screamed as he was electrocuted (a previously unknown sensation to the hot-headed mutant) and collapsed alongside his fellow mutants, Jamie, Sam and Roberto.  They'd all been knocked out in seconds by the quick, thorough motions of the troops, who seemed to know every inch of the Institutes hallways as well as they did, and had been well trained to deal with them, helpless as they were without their powers.

Barely retraining consciousness as his other friends were out cold, Ray watched as the troopers picked them up and lugged all of them outside.  Overhead, black helicopters were circling, as the X-Men and their allies were being one by one taken out and loaded on board as prisoners.  To Ray's shock, a pair of robots, great, lumbering red four legged spiders, armed with two long black tentacles that snaked out to grab some of the students and drag them into the machines, keeping them firmly under control.  They'd already caught Sabertooth and Storm and were hauling them inside.

Damnit, what I wouldn't give for one lousy electric bolt, he cursed internally, as he was dragged into the great black maw and lost consciousness.

                                                ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Lance rushed down the hallways after Kitty, but couldn't find her.

Cursing his luck, wishing for nothing more than a mountain to fall on these goddamn soldiers, he pushed open the next door down the hall, but saw another empty room.

"Damnit," he growled, turning around...

... coming eye to eye with another trooper, with a taser at point blank range.

Lance barely had time to scream.

                                                ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Kitty heard Lance's scream but closed her eyes and kept running.

She had to find Mr. Logan.

Mr. Logan would know what to do, he always did.  He'd be able to take care of all these bad guys, rescue those that'd been captured, and help them all escape.  He had too...!

The door ahead of her opened and she skidded to a stop as a black-clad trooped slipped into view, right in front of Logan's room.  She turned, tripped, crawled forward and jumped to her feet, running, even as the taser cable snapped off, digging into her back and sending volts of electricity throughout her petite form.

Suddenly their was a snickt sound, and then whoosh of metal every person at the Institute recognized as sharpened metal slicing through the air.  Kitty felt the taser cable go loose and the charge stop, and she dropped onto her knees, glancing back to see what had happened.

There stood Logan, armed with a sword.

He'd cut the cable, spun around and sliced the guard's gun out of his other hand, then slammed the hilt right into his helmeted face, shattering it and sending the guy flying backwards to slam hard onto his back.

Logan growled and re-sheathed his katana, carrying the sheath in his hand, making his way over to Kitty to make sure she was alright.  Apart from a little singed, she seemed otherwise fine, so he helped her to her feet and the two took off to the elevator as quick as possible.

Midway there came pounding footsteps, and Logan pushed Kitty behind him as he unsheathed his sword again, holding it before him in the manner of a Japanese samurai, growling low in his distinctive attack cry.

Thus, he quickly had to bring himself back under control and halt the blade before he sliced clean through Rogue.

She, the Cajun and the pyromaniac joined them as they headed towards the elevator and headed down to the Blackbird hangar.

                                                ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Eric, Charles and Hank burst out from the elevator as soon as they'd heard the alarms go off, rushing as fast as they could to the lounge, to be greeted by a decidedly unpleasant sight.

Troops, dozens of them, dressed in black with no visible insignia or ranks, armed and dangerous.  And before them, on the ground, mutant children, some with tasers still locked in the sides, unconscious and in pain, wet from the still active sprinklers overhead.

Bobby, Todd, Pietro, Wanda, Scott, Kurt, and more lay on the ground.

Behind them, far worse, were the machines, as they lumbered in, their tentacled arms easily overpowering Hank and Charles as the soldiers came forward and stunned them with cattleprods, knocking them unconscious.

Eric was more fortunate, having remained in the back, and he fled, his dark coat whipping about him as he managed to reach the elevator and rejoin the others inside.  The doors clanged shut instants later, just before the troopers could reach them.  For now they seemed safe enough.

But it wouldn't last as long as they were in the Institute that was quickly turning into a battlefield.

                                                ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Kitty, Logan, Eric, John, Rogue and Remy finally arrived down in the hangar, where they quickly spotted Piotr.  Evidently being caught in the Danger Room had allowed him to escape, locking the doors and leaving the room on maximum setting.  Nobody envied the troopers fate.

"Anyone?  Prof?!  Hank?" shouted Wolverine into the comm unit.  Eric cut him off.

"All captured... just like we'll be if we don't get out of here," he said.  Wolverine growled, but Magneto was right.  Run away, live to fight another day.

Suddenly the elevator hit ground floor again, and all around in the hangar watched cautiously.  It could've been more who escaped, or it could've been more troopers.

It was worse.

Two machines piled out, humanoid in shape, standing a good five feet tall, about as big as Logan, but a lot thinner.  They looked like some evil twin version of the battle droids from the new Star Wars movies.  Their metal plating was black, covered with red armored designs and glowing gold eyes in the center of their heads, almost like Scott's visor.  Their arms came up, and they were armed long rifles that looked almost downright futuristic.  And downright dangerous.  As was even more evident when a bright blue bolt shot from one and slammed into John, sending him flying into a pile of crates, out of commission.  They were quick to do the same to Piotr.

Wolverine lunged forward, swinging his sword, but the blade snapped against the iron constructs thick armored plating, as the machine-soldier lashed out and sent Wolverine reeling.  Rogue and Remy caught him and they turned to retreat, dodging more blue energy blasts as they ran up the pad to the Blackbird.  Midway there Rogue stumbled and a bright blue bolt lanced into her back, sending her reeling.  Wolverine suffered a similar fate, but managed to keep to his feet as Rogue was knocked unconscious.  The machine-soldiers stepped forward after them, moving with cold, methodical precision.

"We have to go now!" shouted Eric from the controls, having figured out fairly quickly how to operate the Blackbird.  Like most of Xavier's technology, he'd been fundamental in helping to design some of it, viewing the rest, and thus the controls were easy enough to figure out.  He started up the engines.

"Wait, they've got Rogue!" said Remy, coming over to try and stop him.

"Then we leave her behind!" he shouted back at his henchmen, gunning the engines as Kitty and Remy quickly found seats as the jet started to take off.  Cursing, Wolverine ran after them, blue bolts whizzing past his head as he took a flying leap, digging the tip of his broken sword into the plane's wing and hanging on tight as it cleared the waterfall and headed up into the air, away from the Institute and to the relative safety of the sky.

"Its gonna be a looooooong day," cursed Wolverine, hanging on for dear life.

                                                ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

**Authors Notes:**

Curses.  I wish I'd organized this better so this chapter was thirteen instead of the one before it.  Would have made for more ominousness… or something.  Anyway, for the record, I don't know what a flaming bottle of alcohol does, but it seemed as good an idea as any, and it makes sense to me it would spread like that.  Wolverine's japanese sword is, of course, a reference to his brief time in Japan.  And thought it is not mentioned, the security to the mansion was hacked so it was eliminated (if anyone caught that supposed plot hole).  Well, most mutants have no been captured, with only a small, mismatched group having escaped.  Oh, what are these poor mutants to do?  Find out next chapter, same time, same website.  Speaking of which, anyone recognize the machines attackers?  Or rather, the basic design?

Just a reader: Oh don't worry that won't be the main part of the story.  Glad you like the rest though.

Elisabeth Braddock-Grey: Seems that way to me too.  Yay, Kisses and Kisses!  Sweet.

Gyuumajo: Time for cute is over.  Time for action and violence is now.  Enjoy.

Todd Fan: Yeah, no Angel.  Just a man, sweetie.  But don't worry, the early scene I have him in you'll like.  Next chapter.

Thunderfox 150: Glad you think so.

Unknown Source: My own predictions put Colossus and Gambit in the 20-24 age group (college, basically), Sabertooth, Magneto and Mastermind much older, as adults, and Pyro, well, something about him make me think he's just a rather psychotic little sophmore/junior.  Mystique will appear in the next chapter, briefly, but I am slowly gathering all my chess pieces together.  She is of course alive, Impact has not yet happened in the timeline of my story.

CrypticIdentity: Ah, untrue!  I distinctly recall in the old animated series, episode "Weapon X, Lies and Videotape" that they came across the info that Wolverine was to be given the adamantium first, Sabertooth second.  But Logan trashed the place before they could get to Victor.  No adamantium for him.

Mayra: How's that blow your mind?  Yes, Jason is in evolution, he was picked up by Magneto in Italy in the first episode he appeared in.  No significant other for Hank, he seems to manage well enough on his own.

Son of Logan and Ororo: I know technically they'd be twins of some twisted variety, but yeah I agree, it would be weird.  She seems more like a daughter to Logan because of the age difference.  For the most part I'll stick to the X-Men characters, even in the cameos, and for the most part only those in Evolution.  Of course Logan will contact SHIELD, what else is he going to do?

Jenny08: Oh, sorry about that.  If it makes you feel better, the plot is doing the same to me


	15. XV

Worldwide, it was the same deal for other mutants.  And even those people just presumed were mutants.

                                                ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

In New York City...

Peter Parker was running through the alleys, dodging blue laser bolts with what little agility he had left after waking up two days ago to find himself without the powers he'd had since... well... since that trip to the Museum with the super-spider exhibit.

Cursing his bad luck, he dodged out of the way behind a dumpster and saw his exit.

When the machine-soldiers piled into the alley, their sensors gave no indication of the mutant (or so they presumed him to be) Spider-Man.  He'd vanished off their 360 degree scope.  Mostly because he'd dropped down into the sewer, and was now trudging his way along quietly in search of a manhole back near Empire State U.

"Damnit... gonna be late for my study-date with MJ...," he said as he trudged along in the ankle deep sludge, cursing, once again, the fate that seemed determined to make his life miserable.  I've given up the costume.  What more do I have to do to end this?

_With great power comes great responsibility._

"Then why does the lack of great power still bring great responsibility?"

                                                ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

In Florida...

Mr. and Mrs. Masters sat by the phone, worried.  The police had just left, but it had been a whole day now that Alex has been missing.. and they'd only just arrived back from their trip.  They'd cut it early since they hadn't gotten a response from their adopted son, and rushed home, only to find the entire place a mess, like it'd been ransacked.  But nothing was missing... just Alex.  Something very, very bad had happened to their mutant son.

                                                ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

In a hidden facility, somewhere in Europe...

"How irritating this all is," stated Viper, glancing over her shoulder at her most loyal of grunts, the now pale skinned Gauntlet.  "What of Omega Red?  How is his condition."

"Still on ice," replied Gauntlet, his red, cybernetic eye glinting.  "We're keeping him that way until we know what is wrong.  If not, and we wake up without his mutation, the carbondanium attached to his body could very well kill him.  He'd be worthless to us then."

"Indeed he would.  But so will X23 is she continues to run free.  The adamantium in her claws will be killing too."

"We've tried sending out agents, Madame Hydra, but she's eluding us so far."

"Then we need proper bait," she replied, running through the computers database.  A profile came up, and a smirk graced her green, poisoned lips.  "And he will be perfect."

                                                ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Elsewhere in New York City...

Warren Worthington watched the security cameras as the machine-soldiers overpowered his security guards with their strange, advanced weaponry.  They'd already gotten past the lobby and were in the elevator heading up.  Grumbling to himself he slid his more vital documents into his briefcase and headed up to the roof.  Normally he'd just fly away on his wings, he wasn't called Angel by some for nothing after all, but after nearly killing himself with his early morning flight on Friday (during which he was very grateful his home was on the forty-fifth floor, and the forty-sixth had a ledge) he'd decided on alternate methods.

Professor X had already warned him he could be in danger, so when the machines came he'd been prepared.  Dropping his briefcase he grabbed some metal bars and a piece of canvas from where it had been cleverly hidden on the side of the building with duct tape.  He set to work, putting it together, when the robots smashed through the door and took aim at him with the weapons.

"Sorry gentlemen, gotta flight to catch," he said as he leaned into the glider handle, his briefcase in one hand, and leapt off the building, gliding gracefully away as the machines took a few shots before he vanished behind another skyscraper, out of their reach.

On a nearby rooftop, _they_ were watching him.

"There he is."

"We must meet with him quickly."

                                                ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 

Deep in the Himalayas...

Apocalypse shifted in his eternal slumber, his body crumbling around him as his mind howled in anger.  His body was catching up with the hundreds of years it had remained, for all purposes, unaged.  True, the process was much slower, but it was only a matter of time before he was nothing more than ash and bones.

_Mesmero!  Where are you?!  What is happening?!_  He howled with the power of his thoughts.  But in his mind, only his own voice echoed back, and he was alone.

The Eye of Ages would assist in keeping him alive for a while, but its power was not eternal.  Eventually, unless he was freed and his power restored, he would die, and this accursed prison would be his tomb.

                                                ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

In Chicago...

Guards, disguised as police officers, searched the crowded metro station for their quarry, but they saw no sign of the woman they were looking for, in any of her usual guises.

She hissed angrily at them, her brown eyes burning with hatred as she drew the veil of her current disguise across her features in case her general face structure caught their attention.  Her hair certainly would, if they'd seen any pictures of what her true form was, but that was under a black cowl as she walked among the crowd as an Arabian woman, hidden, only her eyes visible, and her pale skin.

They'd pay for what they'd done to her, she thought, as she slipped unnoticed into the crowd and to safety.

                                                ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

In San Francisco...

Jubilee's parents continued their frantic search for their runaway daughter, speaking to the local California police, checking the malls, but still they found no sign of their spunky, renegade daughter.  She wasn't with her friends (mostly because she had so few, after being exposed as a mutant) or at the mall, her favorite hangout.

They were even beginning to think... maybe she'd run away.

                                                ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

On Muir Island...

Moira MacTaggert was beside herself with worry over her youngest charge, Wolfsbane.  The girl had been out wandering the countryside for weeks now at a time.  And though normally Moira allowed her this, since the girl was still coping from leaving so many good friends in Bayville, now was certainly no time for a mutant to be alone.

Not after they'd all lost their powers.

Or at least, most of them had.

There was one, she wasn't sure.  Moira couldn't take the time now to check, not without proper security measures.  If he still had them, Kevin would be uncommonly dangerous.  So for now she focused on her research, but she was as baffled as Hank and the many other scientists working worldwide.  No one understood what had happened to mutants.

                                                ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

In London...

He worked uninterrupted.  No mutants knew of him, no humans knew of him.  He was an enigma, he was darkness, he was death.

But now he was vulnerable, so he ordered out for food, delivered to random places around the city, and had his minions deliver it to him.  But he hungered, his body growing weak as old age started to affect him.  His mutation was failing.

"No," he roared, smashing a beaker and shattering its fluid contents all over the table.  Growling in pain, he pulled the sharp shards of glass out of his skin, watching in horror as he started to bleed, his healing lost.  Grumbling, he got some bandages and swathed them around his wounded hand.  "We are the beginning of a new species... I refuse to allow our kind to die out like this."

And Dr. Essex returned to his unholy work.

                                                ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Elsewhere in London...

Betsy could sense them, all around her.  A sixth sense she'd developed in her ninjitsu training.  She needed an exit, and the red ferari parked over there was her ticket out of her.  Pity the owner was likely going to use it to head home after school.  Smiling a charming smile, Betsy sashayed up to the blonde-haired jock (who, oddly enough, could have been Duncan's twin) and slipped her left hand behind her back.

"Afternoon mate... nice ride... mind if I borrow it?" she asked with a smirk and flip of her purple locks, judo chopping him in the back of the neck and like a sack of potatoes.  Quickly she lugged the body behind the gym and liberated his keys from his jacket pocket.  She dropped down into her newly acquired red ferari, and slowly eased it out of the school parking lot, and headed off on a long, windy path to try and lose the black van that was trailing behind her.

Grinning, once she was away from the main roads, she slammed on the accelerator and drove like a demon straight out of hell.  The van matched her, confirming her thoughts, they were after her.

It wasn't hard to guess why.  Since she'd reached the age of 15, three years ago, she'd developed some strange mental powers.  Real new age stuff.  Telekinesis, telepathy.  She'd tried keeping them to herself, but it'd been very hard.

However they were, whatever government she came from, she wasn't interested.

Pity they weren't likely to take no for an answer.  And with the red tattoo under her cheek (a flight of fancy that had gripped her one night while intoxicated) plus her purple locks (same reason) she'd be easy to identify no matter where she went.  Which meant only one safe place to go: Braddock Manor.

She drove down the roads, navigating the british countryside and just prayed she'd lose them.

                                                ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

In the Morlock Tunnels...

The attackers hit and hit hard, surprising the placid Morlocks to fleeing in a matter of moments.  Despite this, their enemy was using deadly force, and not a few of their number were falling under the shots of troopers or the lasers of those lethal machine-soldiers.

Evan ducked such a blast as Callisto shouted out for a full retreat into the deeper tunnels.  Calliban and Lucid kept alongside them, determined to protect them to the death, as the younger Morlocks retreated. In waves.

Suddenly a machine-soldier swept through the sewer smoke and caught sight of Stall, firing on her and knocking her unconscious as one for red spider-drones stepped forward, gathering her up in his tentacles.  Evan cursed, starting to go back to save her, but Callisto yanked him back.

"No, we can't do anything for her now!  Retreat, now!"

"We can't just leave her!" he argued back at her, as he reluctantly followed her lead and fled into the more narrow sewage tunnels where the machine-soldiers couldn't pursue the Morlocks.

"We won't... trust me, Evan, these outsiders will pay for killing our own and capturing our own... but now isn't the time.  We have to get the others out of here," she stated, her one good eye flashing angrily.

"Alright, I'll get the wounded out of here... have Lucid and Façade cause a distraction then circle back to the Alley... they're best at keeping unnoticed."

"I'll lead them myself," she replied, pleased with his strategy.  She slapped his shoulder encouragingly (more of a rough, friendly way she'd picked up somewhere in her past) and he returned the gesture, then they headed off their separate ways to do their tasks.

The machine-soldiers and their human counterparts continued to storm into the upper tunnels, alternately blasting Morlocks to bits and capturing others, merciless, efficient, deadly.

                                                ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

In the Appalachian mountains...

She watched them, her eyes narrowed in concentration.  They walked on by, underneath the tree she hid in, and she saw no further sign of them.  Flipping down gracefully she checked their tracks, following them back, keeping hidden as she'd been trained all of her life, watching for signs of the robot drones or more soldiers, but she was able to keep an eye on them with little difficulty, remaining hidden all the while.

They had interrupted her mission.  These were not Hydra's soldiers, no.  They were someone else's.  So she would have to place her vendetta on hold for the time being, and deal with this new threat.

Pain followed her every movement, every twist of her joints, every intake of breath.  But she'd been in pain since the day she was born, through all of the training.

She ignored it.

She had to focus on her enemy now.

And they were her enemy.

                                                ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

**Authors Notes:**

My first reference to another Marvel series.  Spider-Man.  Specifically, the new version airing late on MTV.  Its good, kinda like the first and second season of XME in the whole hiding secret identity thing, the juggling of classwork and super-heroism and, of course, the love-triangles.  It had a very, very sad season finale.  Also should be noted, in England, in addition to driving on the wrong side of the road, the legal drinking age is eighteen.  That's the age I'm making my Evo Psylocke.  And of course brief appearances from Sinister (I just can't bring myself to call him 'Mister'), Dr. Moira MacTaggert, and some of the mutant families.

Target X was simply an awesome episode, even if some of the fights were a bit lacking.  X23, of course, rules.  Omega Red and Gauntlet are also out of the picture for this story, though I am not sure exactly what their powers are.  Gauntlet I am not even sure is a mutant (I keep hearing something about aliens?) so I have assumed his physical powers are mutational, and his eye is cybernetic, thus it still functions.  Omega Red'll stay on ice (doesn't he just hate that?) until the mutants powers are restored so he stays alive.  For the record, carbondanium is a slightly more flexible, slightly (very slightly) softer form of adamantium.

Elisabeth Braddock-Grey: Glad you like it.  I'm trying to keep the slaughter down for this story, which is a change for me.  I'm almost making this like an Evo episode.  *snuggles up with you* Mmmm, did you like Psylocke baby?

Gyuumajor: You're not the only one.  But if you think is good, you ain't seen nothin' yet.

Todd Fan: Jason didn't do it!  Warren ate your grilled cheese sandwhich!  He's evil!  Don't let those wings fool you! *points to Warren who's busy stuffing his face*

Kurt Wagner: Finally!  Someone noticed!  No they're not exactly Sentinels, not like the one from Day of Reckoning.  But the design is similar, yes?  They're smaller sentinels armed with lasers, like the battle droids.  And of course go Logan, you don't honestly think he'd be captured, do you?  Or Remy for that matter.

Comet-hime: Unfortunately my story, after all the fighting and such, has a big happy ending.  Plenty of couples and good friends involved there for sappy final farewells or what have you.  'til then, just be prepared for suspense and action.

*B: My thoughts exactly.  And trust me, Wanda is going to be very, very pissed once the illusions fade and her true memories return.  Glad you like the action, plenty more where that came from.

Rogue14: Well, logically someone's gotta save them all.  More to come as soon as possible.

Emerald Lightning Goddess: I didn't hurt Remy, he escaped!  And nobody got killed, at least, they've just been captured for now.  Don't worry about 'em.

CrypticIdentity: Well, in Evo and in my story, Sabertooth had no adamantium... not yet at least.  I dunno about any of the alternate comic-verses or the old animated series.  Glad you like the story, and don't worry, even if Wolvie did fall he's over water, right?  Not like what happened in Target X… that was awesome.  Thank you sooooooo much for pointing that out.  I feel like such a twit for forgetting.****


	16. XVI

Logan grunted, using his free arm to grab the wing as the Blackbird righted itself and slowed down as the mansion was out of sight.  Grimacing, he crawled forward, using his broken sword to dig into the seems between metal to keep himself from being flung into the ocean as he crawled onto the back and banged on the roof to get someone's attention.  Thankfully, Kitty heard him and the hatch popped open, allowing Logan to slide back inside the safety of the jet.

"Next time I drive," he grumbled, leaning against the wall of the jet for support.

"We must find a secure location," said Eric, still at the controls, though the Blackbird had been placed in a circle around the general area they were now in.  Thanks to its stealth technology, nobody would be able to find it this far from the coast.

"We should head back... we can still rescue them," said Kitty, who immediately quelled as Eric turned on the auto-pilot and stood, towering over her.

"How?" he asked coldly.  "Good intentions aside, we have no weapons, we have no powers, and we are vastly outnumbered by trained professionals and robots that were designed to destroy mutants."

"Back off," growled Logan, stepping in front of Kitty and glaring at Eric.  Reluctantly, Eric backed down.  "I agree though... we need a plan before we can rescue the others.  But we will do it.  First priority isn't a base of operations... I know just the place..."

"Hey what about Forge?" asked Kitty.  All eyes turned to her.  "He's a mutant too, but his inventions aren't... maybe he's already invented something we can use."

"The girl has a point," stated Eric, taking the controls.  Logan nudged him none-too-politely out of the seat.

"I said I'd drive... where's Forge live, Kitty?" he asked, glancing over his shoulder as the mutants strapped themselves in.

"I know the address... Kurt showed me where once when we visited... just head back to Bayville and I'll show you..."

                                                ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Wanda awoke with a massive headache, automatically reaching up to rub her temples, idly wondering if she'd been coaxed into drinking last night...

Her hands, however, went together, and she jolted awake as she realized she was cuffed, hand and foot, in thick metal restraints.  Dimly, she could see the others in the darkness of the moving room... a vehicle of some kind... and see them similarly restrained.

Vague memories of sleeping in late... then awakening to see a cattleprod slam into her side... she grimaced, realizing she'd been captured, and there was little any of them present could do about it.

The vehicle came to a sudden halt, throwing mutants back and forth as they vaguely slammed into one another.  The doors at the front slid open, half blinding them as the soldiers started go grab mutants and haul them out.  Instead of the black-clad troopers, who wore helmets to conceal their features, these new soldiers wore a more streamlined body armor, faces free, hair universally cut short.  Their faces were expressionless as they hauled out the mutant kids and few captured adults, pushing them forward in two uneven lines.  Wanda could now see they were in some underground bunker with other vehicles, vans and helicopters and transport trucks.

Wanda was roughly shoved forward by an angry trooper with the butt of his weapon, and she stumbled into the person in front of her, who just turned out to be Todd.  Grumbling to herself, she almost didn't notice as he half-turned, pressing his hands against hers.  Before she could draw them back in disgust... she felt something cool slid into her hands, and close them around it.  A long, thin piece of metal.

"Shhh... only time for one... get out of here," he said, walking slowly and speaking under his breath, back towards Wanda.  She nodded, using the pick on her cuffs, keeping them on as she waited for a more opportune moment to escape.

Suddenly Jamie, behind her, tripped and went sprawling flat onto his face.  For some reason the guards hadn't bothered to shackle his feet together like the other prisoners.  Probably none small enough to fit the kid.  The guards grumbled, breaking their pattern to converge on the helpless kid, and this was the perfect opportunity.

"Now!" she shouted, relieved when Todd slammed shoulder first into the nearest guard as she slipped off clunky cuffs and slammed them across the face of another, making a break for the exit.  Surprisingly, Jamie was on his feet quick as lightning and following after her, and she almost stopped to slap her forehead as she realized the kid had planned this.  His fellow X-Men made quick work of the guards, knocking them out or aside before they themselves were overpowered or electrocuted.

"The mutants are escaping!  Seal the main doors!" shouted one the soldiers.

Wanda and Jamie made a break for the exit, just as the big steel doors started to close on the two of them, narrowly crushing Jamie as Wanda grabbed his arm and yanked him free, his shoelaces caught in the door as it sealed shut.  Grimacing, they didn't stop, out of breath as they were, but kept running, down the mountainside where the fortress was built, sliding down the steep sides (thankfully not too steep) as they headed into the woods, closely pursued by the soldiers and their attack hounds.

Wanda grabbed Jamie and the two slid into a ravine, where she grabbed him and clamped his mouth shut.

"Shhh... whatever you do, -do not- move," she instructed.  He nodded behind her hand, and she released him long enough to grab some leaves and crush them in her palm, blowing on them to send them to the four winds, murmuring softly in some strange language that Jamie (despite all his time at the Institute) could not identify, let alone understand.

The troopers, holding the leashes of very big, very angry looking dogs, walked into the ravine, searching, and Jamie almost cried out before Wanda's hand slapped back down over his mouth to muffle it.  To his surprise (and relief) the dogs walked on by, giving them no more notice than they would the rocks and trees.  Waiting just a few moments longer once they were out of sight, Wanda released Jamie and climbed to her feet, heading deeper into the woods with the little tyke at her side.

"What happened...?!  How did you...?!" he started, then hushed when she angrily put her finger to her lips, signaling him to be quiet.  He did so.  "I thought you lost your powers," he whispered quietly.

"I did," she replied, as the two of them trudged further from the base.  "But my mentor taught me the basics of witchcraft as well... though I've never had to use it.  The spell I just used made us disappear, provided we did not move or make a sound.  That is why the dogs couldn't find us."

"Cool," he whispered, as he trudged after her.

                                                ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

No other escapes were allowed, and the rest of the mutants were watched very keenly as they were shuffled deeper into the base, into a large, circular room that reminded most of the X-men present of the Danger Room.  If it was perpetually dark and lit only with strange, eerie green lights in parts of the room.  Around the edge of the room were many clear pods, human-sized, that most of the captured mutants didn't need to see too many Sci-Fi movies to figure out their purpose.  To their surprise and horror they saw that some of them were already filled.  Alex, Jubilee and Rahne were already there.  Intact, unharmed, but as much prisoners as they were.  Alex and Rahne showed some signs of struggle, their clothes had burn scars and holes and Alex looked like he'd been beaten, his face was covered in bruises.

A secondary level, a walkway, was overhead, allowing passing guards to keep a close eye on all the mutants below.  They'd be easy targets if anybody tried anything.

Each and every mutant, some with a little more struggling than others, were thrust into their respective cells, their handcuffs and feetcuffs removed, as the glass sealed shut, barely giving them enough room to move as they were forced to watch, helplessly, the far end of the room.

Ororo was already starting to panic.  The close quarters of her new cell were bad enough, but the room itself and the very evil that seemed to fill the air made her feel like she was going to be smothered.  Kurt too was also pawing at his tiny compartments, his body languages and lip movements (since none could hear him) in such a manner that it was obvious he was not concerned about himself, but Amanda.

At the far end of the room, the walkway had broken off and was now descending with two shadowy figures on it.  Presumably, their captors.

"Welcome, mutant scum," said the first, as he stepped into the light.  A middle-aged man, still in his physical prime, with only a few gray hairs to mark the passage of age.  He had a thick brown moustache, his coat was black and functional, and he was in no uncertain terms a military man.  Even those who had never met him in person had seen his face on the television.  They students, at the very least, knew who he was.  They'd heard Logan's stories, and they'd seen the broadcast where he'd been placed in jail.  Evidently, he'd released himself early.

Bolivar Trask.

The leader of the group that had constructed the giant sentinel robot, and a fanatic who saw all mutants as scum and a threat.

"Make yourselves comfortable," hissed the other figure as he stepped into the light, though reluctantly, clearly unused to working in anything other than total darkness.  He too was in black, but it was a lab coat, not a uniform.  Not a single hair graced his bald head, and in the eerie green light he looked as pale and sickly as a ghoul.  This one few recognized, but in their respective chambers Victor and Kurt gave out mutual gasps of shock.  They'd thought him dead.

Colonel Wraith.

The architect of Project Weapon X, and the man who laced Wolverine's bones with adamantium and implanted a chip in his brain.

"You're going to be here for a very... very... long time..."

                                    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Forge's home seemed devoid of the troopers and machine-soldiers, but as Wolverine dropped the X-Jet down alongside the small suburban building he couldn't help but feel apprehensions.  Forge could've already been captured, or worse.  Thus, he had Eric and Remy remain behind in case he and Kitty needed back up as they walked up to the front door and knocked.

No reply.

Grunting, Logan slammed his shoulder (and the adamantium laced bones beneath it) into the door and knocked it straight off its hinges, sending it crashing to the ground.  He and Kitty rushed into the living room...

To see Forge sitting cross-legged in front of the television, his hands resting on the game controller as he glanced up at the sudden noise.

"Kitty...?  What're you doing here?" he asked, dropping his controller and climbing to his feet.

"Long story Forge, but we gotta get out of here... its dangerous," she said.  Logan checked the adjacent rooms while Kitty filled Forge in on the past events.  Though the loss of mutations was not a surprise (he'd found that out fairly quick) he was shocked at the tale of the attack on the Institute.

"We gotta get out of here... are your parents here?"

"Nuh-uh," he replied.  "They'd left to see some relatives out west.  Just a guest.  We were playing some videogames.  If I'm going I should alert them, so they can get out of here."

"Guest?"

"Hey Kitty," came the voice, and she and Forge turned to see the freckled, red-headed boy, behind whom was Logan, apparently having flushed the boy out of the kitchen earlier.

"Arcade?"

                                                ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Wanda and Jamie found a stream and eagerly wet their mouths to parch their thirst, then finally sat down on the side of the river farthest from their enemy to think of a plan.

"Wanda... you didn't happen to see Logan or Kitty in that group of people who'd be, uh... captured?  'cause I didn't, see... and..."

"No," she stated angrily, trying to concentrate.  She was trying to figure out where they were.  She knew which way was East by the setting sun.  Considering they'd been in a van they couldn't be too far from Bayville... so logically heading east would bring them back to the coast, and from there they could find their way.

Assuming the soldiers weren't still looking for them.

"Then maybe they escaped..."

"We can find them once we find out where we are," she replied, as they reluctantly started to trudge eastward again.  Suddenly they heard the distinct click of a gun, and turned to face one of the soldiers, trained on them both with a rather lethal looking AK-47.  He didn't seem like he'd care much if he had to kill them, either.

"Gotcha... now you stinkin' muties are comin' with me... comprende?" he asked, taking a step forward.

It was the last step he took.

A grey blur whistled through the air, slamming into his forehead and knocking him backwards, his gun pointing up as his finger clenched instinctively, letting bullets fly as Wanda grabbed Jamie and the two of them ducked behind a tree, as the soldier fell down dead from the thrown rock, unconscious.  Wanda and Jamie stood up as a new figure entered the clearing, and they saw their savior.

Dark brown hair, tanned skin, haunted green eyes.  Dressed all in black, with survival gear and a myriad of throwing knives slung across her body.  She couldn't have been more than fourteen.  Jamie shivered, hiding himself behind Wanda as he recognized their new arrival.

X23. ****

                                    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

**Authors Notes:**

For those confused, Colonel Wraith is the creepy military ghoul from "Grim Reminder."  I'm not 100% sure that's his name, but it came from an on-line source, and seems as accurate as they come, plus his name was mentioned in "Target X" (I think), so that's what he is in my story.  Oh and I tossed in that bit about Wanda knowing a little magic, same as her mentor Agatha Harkness.  I figured she'd know at least a few minor spells.  Magic being, of course, not a result of mutation but training, so it is not affected by the strange lack of mutant powers.  Next chapters, find out what has caused all of this.

Todd Fan: That… made absolutely no sense whatsoever.  But its okay, I still love ya.

Elisabeth Braddock-Grey: Sweet.  I got a cute girl in my lap, yay!

*B: Hadn't actually meant for that to be a humorous moment, but whatever works.

Glaivster: I don't know about the comics, but yes I know Sinister was not born the way he is.  He altered himself (or Apocalypse did) with science.  But its still a genetic mutation, and thus still changed by what has happened.  Find out why shortly.

CrypticIdentity: I cannot believe I was so foolish as to forget that, I feel so foolish.  Thank you for catching it before I made my entire story meaningless (too late).  Also, I tossed in Spider-Man for three reasons.  One, somebody (read: a cute girl) asked he be put in since he's a Marvel character.  Two, while not born with superhuman powers like a mutant, his abilities comes from altered genetic code, thus he is affected and he's mistaken for a mutant on occasion because of his powers.  Third… well, his new series reminds me a lot of XME, and I thought a little tribute to it would be nice.

Tomoe: No hidden subplot, just me acting one night with too much caffeine and too little brain power.  I've corrected the error though.  But glad you like the story, more to come.


	17. XVII

Despite Magneto's objections that a 'mere human' wasn't going to be of much help, Arcade was brought along after Kitty reminded them all how dangerous he'd been in the Danger Room (out of the poor kid's earshot, of course) and he was convinced to come along for some gaming experience.  Forge loaded up some of his more offensive technology, and the mutants fired up the Blackbird, heading southwest.

Towards Chicago.

After a long talk between Remy, Logan and Eric, they'd agreed their was no home to go up against such attackers, and especially not in the present state, in a head-to-head conflict.  Thus, their best bet was locate the enemies base and rescue their friends, retreat, and go from there.  And of course, in order to do that, they needed to find the enemies base.  Which mean they needed information.

Since most of Magneto's contacts had gone silent in recent months, and Remy was unable to contact his own in the guild, that left only Logan as their main contact.  Which meant they had to contact Fury.  SHIELD would, hopefully, be able to bring them up do date.

"That's assuming they're not responsible for this," added Remy, playing devil's advocate.

"Patch and I may have our issues..." replied Logan "But this isn't one of 'em.  And you two may be terrorists..." and here he looked long at Eric, who didn't flinch under his glare.  "But again, he wouldn't attack the mansion, he'd have no way of knowing you were there.  No... someone else is behind all this."

"SHIELD it is then," stated Eric.  Logan nodded, and they took the controls to head towards one of SHIELDs secret fortresses to ask for their aid.  Logan just hoped they'd be in time to help the kids.

In the back, Kitty was helping Arcade piece together everything that had been happening.  Surprisingly, the geeky gamester was more than willing to help the mutants after he'd heard their side of the story involving the Sentinel robot disaster.  Plus, he figured after what he'd heard had really happened at the mansion during the party, the he kinda owed them for nearly torching and/or blasting them to bits.

Thus, the two of them and Forge were sorting through his gear, searching for anything useful they could use, what could be carried and by who.  Turned out most of Forge's weapons (of which there were already very few) were of the non-lethal variety.  Knockout gas and the like.  Much as Kitty hated it, she suddenly wished they had something like a bazooka or (while she was daydreaming) why not a tank?  Or even, hell, their own sentinel robot?

It'd be nice, but between two unempowered mutant adults, three unempowered mutant kids and a normal human kid, they were going to have to take on an organization that had managed to overtake the entire Institute in a manner of minutes.

                                    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"I remember you," stated X23, drawing out a wicked blade from behind her back and holding it out before her, glancing at Wanda idly as she pointed it at Jamie.  "You're Multiple."

"Uh yeah... hi..." he said weakly, shivering as he tried to hide behind Wanda.  X23 growled.

"What're you doing here?  You're not with them," she said, giving the unconscious soldier a vicious kick to the head.  "You're their prey, same as I am..." she added, slicing off Jamie's handcuffs in two quick, slashing motions, then re-sheathing her weapon.  "Who are these men?  Why're they hunting us?"

"Because we're all mutants," replied Wanda.  She was sick of being frightened by a little girl half her size.  "And they likely want to round us all up into nice little death camps and murder us all, got it kid?"

"I'm not a kid," said X23 gruffly, marching past Jamie and Wanda.  "Follow me..."

"Why?  Where're we going?" asked Jamie.  He and Wanda followed after her, as she led them through the seemingly trackless woods.

"To find help... I assume all of you X-Men were captured?" she asked, glancing back at Jamie as she sliced a tree trunk that was in her way.  She barely even glanced at it, her blade moving with lightning quickness.

"Uh... yeah... though I think Kitty and Mr. Logan got out... and also that strange white-haired guy..."

"My father?" asked Wanda suddenly.  "Magneto?"

"I... dunno..."

"Must've been... father's a survivor... he wouldn't be captured."

"Then we will reunite with the others," replied X23.  "But first I need to find where they are... and you two will come with me."

"Listen little girl," started Wanda, only to stop abruptly as she found a rather sharp blade pressed up against her neck, right under her chin.

"No, you listen.  I am in need of an X-man to prove to these people I am an ally... I don't need you... but I would not wish to traumatize the child by killing you either and leaving your body here to rot.  So you will both follow me, now," she said.  Without another word, X23 sheathed her knife and stalked off again.  Wanda and Jamie, reluctantly, followed her.

                                                ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"It is truly a pity you have only managed to reclaim one of my subjects," remarked Colonel Wraith as he ran his hands along the glass container which held Sabertooth, admiring his once-ally, now-prisoner.  "And not even the successful one."

"We'll have him soon enough," replied Trask, making his way forward to join Wraith.  "But I don't think you can argue that our operation was a failure... look at all we've accomplished," he added with an impressive sweep of the captured mutants, trapped behind their glass.  By special design, it allowed them all to hear and see Trask, Wraith, and anyone inside the circular room, but they could not be heard, nor communicate in any way with their fellows, unless Trask or Wraith activate the speaker in an individual booth and allowed them to use the intercom system in the room.  "Besides, we have captured the key to make our dreams a reality.  A world without mutants..." and here he pointed at the key in question.

Professor Charles Xavier.

"Got something you want to say, mutie scum?" asked Trask with a sneer.  With a smirk, he tapped the intercom below Charles, allowing him finally to be heard.

"Whatever it is you want from me, Mr. Trask, leave the others out of this..."

"Ah, but what I want from you does involve them... it involves all you filthy mutants.  It will finally allow me to remove this menace from society and ensure the continuation of the human race!" said Trask, with a zealous light in his eyes.

"You are the one... the ones," he amended, glancing at Wraith.  "Who have removed our powers, aren't you?  This is not just coincidence."

"Correct," stated Wraith, watching Charles with the curiosity of a cat watching a mouse through his strange, green goggles.

"It was a simple matter really," stated Trask, moving his way back towards the far end of the room as he switched off Charles comm. link.  He then switched on the main screen, illuminating the room, showing the image of a small, repulsive little mutant boy.  Visible mutant.  Green, scaly reptilian skin covered his body, and his eyes were big and black, like a iguana's.  He was, all in all, a rather disgusting looking creature.  Still, the X-Men and not a few of the Brotherhood felt immediate sympathy.

The image zoomed back, showing the mutant child sleeping in a red chamber much like their own.  Surrounding it were a large number of strange rubies, inside the glass chamber.  And surrounding that was a large amount of electronic machinery.

"This rather repulsive child my colleague," said Trask, motioning to Wraith.  "Found a short while ago, has the ironic mutant power of canceling out other mutant's powers, leeching them out of the body like the poison they are.  Using some schematic designs we found on the crashed asteroid in the Antarctic... an abandoned mutant base, we believe... we found these crystals and build the machine you see here.  It has sufficiently amplified the little leech's power so that it now covers the entire world.  With this anti-mutant zone in effect, you freaks are now powerless to stop us from securing our proper position at the top of the planetary food chain."

"Trask..." hissed Wraith.  "Bring my subject... I may as well begin on him now that I have the time.  Once Wolverine is here we can deal with him."

"Fine," grumbled Trask, turning back to the main screen.  "Master Mold?"

"Yes?" came the cold, computerized voice of the machine, as a semi-human electronic face appeared on the screen, with coldly glowing gold eyes.

"Release the cage with Sabertooth... take him to the labs with Colonel Wraith..."

"At once," replied the computer.  Two machine-soldiers immediately filed in, as the glass casing slid away and Sabertooth was dragged out and away by them.  Wraith trailed along behind them, smiling his evil smile.

"Good work Master Mold... what news from the others?"

"Group A: Success, twenty captured, zero casualties... Group B: Failure... Group C: Failure... Group D: Failure..." it stated in cold tones.

"Enough!  Why so many failures?  The mutants are escaping?" shouted Trask.

"Human error was involved.  Your soldiers are not performing at optimal efficiency, Creator," stated Master Mold in its mechanical voice.

Trask grumbled impatiently.  "Fine, replace them with the mark II sentinels.  I want those damn mutants!"

"Understood, creator," replied Master Mold, as its face vanished from the view screen and Trask stormed out of the room, leaving the mutants alone in the cold, glass chambers, awaiting a fate they were sure was likely worse than death.

                                                ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

**Authors Notes:**

Quite the raggedy rescue team... think they can do it?  Ah, the evil human architects have been revealed, as well as how they've pulled off a world wide mutant nullification.  I know its semi-stereotypical for the villain to reveal their nefarious scheme, but what the hell, right?  And even better, my own personal version of Master Mold.  Since he's not yet been introduced into X-Men Evolution, I've taken some creative license to spice him up a little bit.  Just to make it more interesting, and you see why shortly.  This story hasn't even come close to an end, so sit tight and prepare for more good XME.

Rogue14: Yes yes I'm working as fast as I can! 

Ilyana Rasputin: I'll settle for some Pringles and a coke.  But chapters will be coming very rapidly for the next week or so.

Faith Darkholme: Glad you like.  Yes that was Mystique actually, as for who wants to meet Warren, you'll see soon enough.

Todd Fan: Of course Forge is here.  How else do you think they're going to pull off a rescue?  Hehe.

*B: I suppose I didn't consider that.  For the purposes of plot continuity, let's just say he didn't notice the molted feathers, same as Kurt didn't notice the fur, 'cause they were both too sleepy that morning.  But glad you like it, and definitely re-read, you will love all the foreshadowing now that you understand it.

Unknown Source: Come on, tell me you can't picture Arcade and Forge playing those silly video games on a gamecube?  As for Trask and Wraith's plans, you will soon see.  As will they.  Like Pachino said, nothing is as it seems.

ChaosCat: 'fraid no more Betsy, unless she shows up in Evolution before I finish the story.  Maybe one little scene at the end.  But for the most part anyone you saw in chapter XV who has not appeared previously in the Evolution show will not be appearing further in the story.

Emerald Lightning Goddess: Thanks, but I've got my own. *sucks on the lollipop, cuddling his own Rogue, Tabitha and Mystique plushies*

Cryptic Identity: Sorry, sounded like criticism, and its something I don't take terribly well.  Trask and Wraith.  To be honest Wraith came to mind midway through, so I stuck him in, 'cause I want to include as many Evo characters as possible, even if briefly.  Actually though, from what I've read Arcade was a human villain in the comics too, no powers.  He was known for building elaborate death-traps and working as an assassin.

Tallicat: Glad you like it.  More to come, of course


	18. XVIII

The Blackbird landed on the airfield just outside of the city, not wanting to draw unnecessary attention to themselves, the mutants therein decided to make the rest of the way into the city on foot.

Logan identified the building easily enough.  Despite being labeled as a big-time corporation, he'd been here often enough to recognize a SHIELD installation when he saw one.  The guards, of course, tried to detain them, but Logan shouldered them aside, saying in no uncertain terms he wanted to see Fury, now.

The mutants were ushered in by the guards, two on each side, though they neglected to search for weapons, as they were led into the interrogation room.

Fury was waiting for them.

"Well, Wolverine... I was wondering when you were going to drop by," stated his former commanding officer with an arrogant smirk.

"Cut the chatter, Patch, we haven't got time... we need info, now."

"So do we," replied Fury.  "In less than forty-eight hours over half a dozen American citizens have been abducted from their homes, all mutants.  And all without their powers.  We can't figure out who's behind this, we were hoping you would have a better idea."

"Well I hate to disappoint you, but we don't," replied Logan gruffly, crossing his arms.  "We haven't found out the 'cause of... arrrgh.."

Logan groaned in pain, dropping down to one knee as a particularly bad wave of agony washed over his body, barely able to stand.  Dimly, he was aware of those around him showing concern, coming to his aid, but he couldn't focus, he couldn't see anything but blurs, couldn't hear anything but muffled voices and the occasional shout as someone, likely Fury, barked out orders.

Finally he shook his head as the pain faded to more manageable levels, and he found focus again on the face in front of him... blonde hair... brown eyes... Deborah.

Growling, Logan shook off her hands, as she'd been examining him, and stood on his feet, giving a look to the others that spoke volumes.  I'm fine, stop worrying about me, it said.  And don't _you_ touch me, you child torturing bitch.

"What just happened?" asked Fury.

"Best guess... without his mutant healing factor, his body is rejecting the adamantium laced along his bones," replied Deborah, shrinking back from Logan fearfully.  "Its killing him."

Logan growled.

"Hydra cannot be responsible for this, Agent Fury," she continued.  "They would not risk their weapon being destroyed.  X23 will be dying the same as Wolverine here is."

"We have to locate our fellows and rescue them," stated Eric, moving forward between Logan and Fury.

"Give me a good reason why we should help you in the first place.  You're a wanted mutant terrorist 'Magneto'," replied Fury with a smirk, removing his toothpick and snapping it between his fingers, tossing the two halves into a nearby trashcan.  "What's to stop me, right now, from locking you inside of a plastic prison for the rest of your life?"

"If you lock us up, the captives will die.  Are you willing to sacrifice dozens of innocent American citizens?  Children, no less?" Eric countered.  He smirked when Fury made no reply.  "I thought not."

"We will handle the rescue effort.  We simply need to know where it is."

"Ain't gonna happen," replied Fury, turning to one of the guards.  A red-headed female with a black snipers cap pulled low across her forehead.  "Make sure no one leaves the room until I say.  I have to go confer with my superiors," he stated, leaving the room, with Deborah following close behind.

"Well, you all seem to be in something of a jam... how ironic..." stated the redhead, as she lifted up her head to gaze at the room with very cold blue eyes.  "Maybe I can help you."

"Oh?  What could you possibly offer us, woman?" asked Eric angrily, turning to face her.  She smirked, placing her sidearm aside, then swung out her leg in a circle and slammed her foot square into Eric's jaw, sending him reeling.

"I've been waiting a loooong time to do that," she said with a smirk, removing her black cap and shaking out her flaming red hair, gazing about the room.  Logan and Remy were the first to identify her.  And it certainly wasn't because of her skin tone.  It was her eyes, cold and glinting with anger.  It was the way she moved, fluidly, like a cat.

"Mystique?"

                                                ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Inside Trask and Wraith's fortress, the mutant captives were naturally growing restless in their tiny cages.  They'd all seen Sabertooth dragged off, and all were privately thinking: who was next?

Rogue was the most annoyed, cursing her ill fortune as she sunk to her knees in the glass chamber and wrapping her arms around her legs as she quietly cried, thinking again how unfair life was.  She'd been able to touch for a whole day, and apart from one kiss from an arrogant little speedster, nothing good had happened... and now she was a prisoner of some psycho mutant haters, who were going to do god knew what to all of them.

Kurt, in the cell beside her, was praying.

Suddenly the side doors slid open, and all of the captured mutants their attention to the newly arrived quartet of guards, dragging along a single prisoner among them.

Amanda Sefton.

Kurt was on his feet immediately, and Charles was ultimately grateful his curses couldn't be heard by the younger students as he flung himself against the glass, trying to break it.  Ultimately, his efforts were in vain as he panted for breath, watching as Amanda was pushed into a chamber alongside theirs and sealed in as they were.

"What the hell is your problem, freak?" asked one of the guards, switching on Kurt's communicator once the boy had calmed down a little.

"Why is she in here?  Your boss said you were only after mutants, she's done nothing wrong!" he shouted at the glass.  To his surprise, the guards started to laugh among themselves.

"He doesn't know!"

"Should we tell him?"

"Ah what the hell... it'll be worth the look on his face..."

The original guard tapped Kurt's comm. link off, then smiled up at him wickedly, and Kurt shivered inwardly, glancing at Amanda.  "Your girlfriend's a latent mutant, freak.  Not one with powers, no... but just as bad as the rest of you.  Even if she gave you up and settle for a normal human, like she should've, her kids would be freaks.  So she's staying here with you all.  Enjoy your time together."

In the respective cages, Amanda and Kurt paled, glancing at each other in surprise.

The guards left, leaving the mutants to themselves once again, alone in a room where they could see one another, but communication was impossible.  The final to leave, the first, banged his fist against Kurt's cage one more time as he turned to leave.

"Quit prayin', freak.  God don't love your kind."

                                                ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

In the city of Bayville, people were huddled in their homes, afraid to go outside.  All day there'd been strange rumors circulating.  Mutants able to blend in among them, to look and seem normal.  Then strange army men and machines capturing them.  No, some said, working for them.  The mutants were gathering an army to crush the normal people.  That's why nobody has seen the Brotherhood in so long, they'd vacated their house and moved in with the Institute kids.  The mutants were all gathering together to wipe them all out.

Thus, no one was paying attention when a manhole popped up out of the ground in a back alley and Callisto thrust her head up, glancing around before grabbing the sides and hauling her lithe, athletic body out of the sewers and into the reddish-purple sky of late sunset.

"Lucid?" she whispered.

"I'm here," he replied, coming out from behind a dumpster, giving her the safe signal.  She relaxed marginally, as Evan climbed up alongside her.  Calliban, Cybelle, Scaleface and Façade, the Morlock fighting squad, slipped out into the alley, all crouched down low so they wouldn't be noticed.  Though even if they had been, it was doubtful any would have thought much of them.  Just a gang of thugs, best avoided.

"Any sign of Stall?" asked Evan.

"The machines took her that way, past the docks," replied Façade.  "The soldiers loaded her onto a small boat, we think it headed upstream..."

"We have to find out more... Callisto?" asked Evan, turning to the woman who was their leader.  She nodded.

The Morlocks set off towards the docks, passing by a rather damaged building, little more than rubble.  As they did, Evan skidded to a stop, raising his skateboard as he heard something.  A faint cry for help.  He made his way over the larger pieces of stone that had once been walls, searching.

"Help me..."

"Callisto!  Toss me your staff, someone's trapped under these rocks!" shouted Evan, before he realized what he was doing and quickly shut up, forgetting that the Morlocks preferred to travel, whenever possible, in stealth.  Grimacing, Callisto tossed him her iron weapon, and he used it as a lever to maneuver one of the stones out of the way so he could better see who was trapped underneath.

As he did get a glimpse, Evan gave a faint cry and fell backwards in shock.

It was the Juggernaut.

"Juggernaut?!" he shouted, scrambling to get away.  The giant must've been waiting in hiding, preparing to crush the rocks and Evan's head for...

... wait...

... mutants had lost their powers.  Hadn't the Prof once told the students that his brother was a mutant too, kinda?  Evan made his way back, as the brown-haired giant opened his eyes and glanced up at Evan.  He seemed positively horrible, like he'd been trapped like that for hours, and all of his reddish armor was gone.  Especially his helmet.  It couldn't be a trap.  Juggernaut never let that helmet leave his head willingly.

"Oh great, you..." he grumbled.

"What's that supposed to mean?" asked Evan. "We may not be best of friends, Juggernaut, but you're still a mutant and you need our help..."

"You couldn't help me if you tried, kid... just leave me to die," replied Cain angrily.

Evan refused to.  True, the Juggernaut was the X-Men's enemy, but he had no personal grudge against Evan or the Morlocks.  And Evan was still a good guy at heart.

Organizing the other Morlocks, Evan used Callisto's iron staff and another discarded rock to form another lever, pushing the big stone block that held Cain's legs up with the aid of Calliban and Callisto.  Lucid and Cybelle dragged Cain out, checking him for injuries.

"He should be fine now... just scrapes and bruises mostly," said Lucid.

Satisfied, the Morlocks turned to leave, but a large hand clamped down on Evan's shoulder.  The other Morlocks tensed for a fight, as Evan turned back to face Cain, barely able to stand.

"Why... why did you help me, kid?" he asked, angrily.

"It was the right thing to do," replied Evan, shaking off the bigger man's hand as he and the other Morlocks headed towards the docks, to continue their search for the missing Stall.  They left Cain their, dumbfounded.

                                                ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

**Authors Notes:**

My oh my.  SHIELD doesn't seem eager to help, you think?  Pity.  Looks like its up to the mutants after all.  Anyone surprised by Mystique's appearance?  Her shapeshifting isn't the only reason she's so damn good at being a spy.  Amanda Sefton is, in my story, not a mutant per se, but she has the genetic potential.  That is what is meant by the earlier term used 'latent.'  Kurt's real father was such a person, since his dormant x-gene and Mystique's active one created such a, well... unusual... child.  And of course Cain was eventually rescued, you all didn't think I was going to kill him, do ya?  He and the Morlocks still have roles to play in my twisted chess game.  Now I must get back to my pawns.

Oh and for the record, yesterday, September 16th... was my birthday.  I just turned twenty-one.

Todd Fan: Thirty-six by a freak technicality maybe of being trapped in an inter-dimensional hell (what else would you call a place that stops just short of the girls locker room?)  There will be more for you, Todd fan.  And for your little inventor boy.

Tazmanian Devil: Glad you like the story.  Wow, you like LotR and XME too?  You should read my other stories.

Rain: Awwww, does Colonel Wraith scare you?  Muwahahahahahaha!  Its about to get scarier... in chapter XIX I might have to bump the rating up a little, even.  Muwahahahahaha!!

Emerald Lightning Goddess: Mmmm, cookies.  Hope you're enjoying the rapid updates, they come to an end this weekend when I'm taking a short vacation

Faith Darkholme: Mmmm... maybe.  Perhaps as a not-so-subtle hint I'll say that my favorite movie of all-time is Terminator.  ^_^

Illyana Rasputin: Wraith and Trask won't get along, but their goal isn't to enhance or control the mutants, except for Wraith's old team.  Sabertooth, Wolverine, and the others.  The rest, well, you'll see what's been planned for them.  As for my secret well, this is it: I write several chapters at once, then post them one by one after a short period of time.  That was if I suffer writer's block I still have a few more days I can update, giving me time to think up the rest.

Unknown Source: I don't recall anywhere that says Wolverine has enhanced strength, just that he's in good shape for a man his physical age because of regular training.  As for why he and X23 aren't dead... it would ruin the story!  So there!  Adamantium isn't as poisonous as something like iron or lead for the purposes of my story.  Besides, the two of them are still dying, just slowly darn it.

Gyuumajo: Of course more to come.  A few more rapid updates, then I have a vacation break I need to take.

Rogue14: I always wondered what those two would do if they ever met, with their dysfunctional childhoods and all.

Elisabeth Braddock-Grey: I can't kill the villains!  If I do, how can they come back again and again to be thwarted by our lovable (and not-so-lovable) heroes?

Mayra: Its okay.  X23 is a partial clone of Wolverine, raised and trained by Hydra to be the ultimate weapon.  For a full bio check out the Beyond Evolution website.  Think of her as Wolverine crossed with Wanda.  And yes, Jason Wyngarde is Mastermind... but he's not -that- short.  He's about Magneto's height, I think.

Jenny08: Glad you like it.  Of course more to come...

CrypticIdentity: I don't know, I got that info on Arcade from a website.  Its interesting to see him as a geeky teen thought.  Glad I'm keeping this IC for the Evo mutants though, I am trying my best.  I love it when my work is appreciated


	19. XIX

"This may surprise you but this concerns us all Wolverine," sneered Raven.

"Yeah right.  You wanna come out on top, like always," stated Remy, idly flipping a card between his fingers.

"If I wanted you dead, you would be," she stated quietly, patting the gun at her side.  "Fury wouldn't even lift a finger.  Especially since you all were trying to escape," she added meaningfully.  They knew she had them right where she wanted them.

"So what do you want?" asked Kitty.

"I want the same thing you do.  I want Rogue and Kurt safe, and I want to have my power back."

"But you don't know where they are any more than we do," replied Eric as he climbed to his feet, nursing his bruised jaw and glaring at the redheaded woman.  She glared back.

"No.  But I've found out who's responsible," she said.  "One of the soldiers who tried to capture me managed to talk before I snapped his neck."

"Who?"

"Trask," she hissed.

Logan growled, and those around him backed up.  Even without his claws, his rage was a dangerous thing.  His room's near-constant state of being repaired was testimony to what happened when he got angry.

"Then the kids are in danger."

"And you all," Raven replied, glancing at the mismatched group before her "Are, unfortunately, the best I have to work with... now... do you want my help or not?"

"Alright..." stated Logan.  "But I'll be keeping my eye on you."

Raven quickly slid back into her position and replaced her cap on the off-chance Fury recognized her as the said agent returned.

"Seem we had some company, Logan... friends of yours?" he asked, indicating the black-haired young woman and brown-haired child with her.

"Jamie?  Wanda?" said Logan.

"My daughter," said Eric, as the two adults made their way forward to inspect their young charges.

Midway there, Wanda slapped her father, across the face.  Hard.

"Don't you dare call me that," she stated angrily.

Eric grimaced, rubbing his cheek, wondering idly how much damage his face could take as he stood on his feet a safe distance from Wanda.  Her eyes had changed.  She seemed as enraged as ever.  "Wanda, what is wrong...?"

"You know damn well what's wrong with me!" she roared angrily, moving as if to strike him again.  He flung his arms up to shield himself, but the blow never landed.  "It wasn't low enough you took my life away by throwing my away in a lousy asylum, you had to replace my memories as well!  Damn you!" she cursed, collapsing onto her knees, tears streaming down her cheeks, as Eric could only watch her and wonder, was this his doing?  He had truly been such a horrible parent to Wanda?  All he'd done, he'd done to create a world that would be better for her and her brother, for all mutants.  A world free of human persecution.

"And you know what the sad thing is?" she asked angrily, glaring up at him, her cheeks stained with tears.  "I wish I'd never found out... I wish I'd lived this miserable lie you had Mastermind concocted... I wish I could pretend it was true... I wish..." she sobbed, collapsing once more into a sobbing mess.

"Jamie," interrupted Logan, gaining the little boy's attention while Wanda continued to weep on the floor.  "What happened?  How'd you two get out?"

"We didn't, Mr. Logan!" he started, excitedly in the manner characteristic of little boys.  "It was amazing!  First those soldiers and machines came and they took everyone in these big black trucks, and I woke up and we were all shackled and then I tripped and Wanda broke free and I followed and we ran..."

"Wait kid, whoa, back up..." said Logan.  "You know where their base is?"

"I, uh... think so... Wanda would know better, but I could probably lead the way back," he replied.

"Good... Jamie, is it?" asked Fury with a smirk.  "You can show me where the base is, and I can handle everything from there."

"Now wait just a minute Fury," said Logan, turning to face the one-eyed man who was once his commanding officer.  "You send in troops there's a good chance our friends could get killed.  Let us handle this."

"And you'll do what, Wolverine?  Without your powers you mutants here," and he gestured to all those present (save Mystique).  "Are little better than civilians."

"You can't stop us, Fury," replied Logan angrily, getting right up in his face.  Fury smirked, snapping his fingers.  Immediately Raven tapped the console near the door and it slid open.  A dozen guards filed in, guns trained on those present.

"This time I can, 'Weapon X'" he said with an expression that told them he wasn't exactly pleased with what he was doing.  "Lock them in containment... we'll interroga... er... ask the kid where the base is in the morning."

"Yes sir," replied Raven, leading the way as the former mutants, plus Arcade, were rounded up and led down the corriders of the SHIELD compound to its prisons, where they were all stuffed into a single chamber and the door was slammed shut behind them, locking them all in, deep in the SHIELD complex.  Their chances of rescuing their friends and comrades was looking bleaker by the minute.

                                                ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The facility was dark now, most of the lights had been turned off in the main room to conserve power, as the facility slept, those few guards on night duty patrolling the upper levels of the mutant prisons armed with flashlights as well as guns.  Still, the prisoners, most of them, didn't stir.  They'd managed to make themselves comfortable (most of them at least) and had fallen asleep.

All but one.

Scott Summers couldn't sleep.

His mind was too ablaze with thoughts.  All centered on one thing.  How they could get out of this one.  For all his study of logistics and strategy, the field leader of the X-Men was drawing blanks, and he knew why.  His thoughts of escape were overlaid with thoughts of concern.  Primarily for the redheaded angel who's cell was right next to his.  They were less than two feet apart, but unable to hear one another, unable to speak or communicate more than the basic of conversations that gestures allowed.  So close, yet so far apart.

Then there was concern for his brother.  Alex looked damn well beat up when they'd arrived.  After hearing the sort of tests Trask had performed on Logan, it wasn't hard to figure out his brother had been sent through gauntlets with these new, mark II sentinels.  He'd been hurt bad.  But Scott intended to return the favor to Trask, every last bit of it, the first chance he got.  Rogue, Kurt, the Professor, all of them Scott was concerned for.  They were more than his team, they were his family.  He'd lost his first family, in that damn plane accident.  He wasn't going to lose this one.

Idly he filled with the visor he had in his coat pocket.  Like it was any good to him now.

                                                ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Ah, excellent... good evening, bigfoot," said Colonel Wraith, laughing at a joke only he truly found funny as he gazed down at his subject.

Sabertooth was strapped down, metal bars slapped across his waist, wrists and ankles, pinning him to the metal table.  On a nearby table lay a number of surgical tools, and none of them looked very friendly.

"It is rather excellent I can finally proceed with this... losing Wolverine twice has convinced me the fool might not be as perfect as I hoped in being such a lethal mutant hunter.  But you, Sabertooth... you remain as vicious as ever," stated the sick doctor, running his hand almost lovingly along the cool blades of his tools.

"Just get this over with, you bastard," grumbled Victor.  "Less talk, more torture, right?"

Colonel Wraith smiled, picking up a remote control and holding it out before him.  Thought it didn't look particularly menacing (it had only one button) Victor inwardly chilled.  "As you wish," he stated, pressing the button.  Instantly the air around the room... rippled, to a strange degree.  But that wasn't what caught Victor's attention.  In an instant, every single bone, fiber and sinew in his body felt like it'd been speared with a needle.  A jagged, fiery needle no less.  Despite his early bravado he howled in sudden pain, gasping as he noticed just how loud he'd been.  It'd been a growl.  In an instant, the pain was gone, and when he looked down again, he was shocked.

Claws, a few patches of fur, his size and bulk had grown back, now the metal bars were even tighter against him as he ran his tongue along his teeth and felt his fangs once more sharp.

His powers had been restored.

Colonel Wraith's wicked smiled confirmed it.

"Mmmm... you'd be rather useless to me without those remarkable healing powers of yours, thus this room was designed to allow me to work without the interference of the leeching child's power," stated Colonel Wraith, as he walked around the newly restored Sabertooth, who growled up at him angrily, straining against his bonds.  It was useless.  They'd been designed to hold him at full strength, and even with his powers restored, after a day of fighting and imprisonment he was nowhere near full strength.  "Now I can finally finish where I left off with Wolverine... and then perhaps on to your fellow mutant hunters, Sabertooth..." stated Colonel Wraith, as he picked up a scalpel and examined it in the dim light.  "Pity we can't use anesthetic, but you know how that interferes with the bonding of the adamantium... so... best you just try to ignore the pain..."

Outside the door, the guards cringed as the screaming started.  Once started, it didn't seem to stop.

                                                ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

X23 grumbled as she slunk back into the alley, watching the SHIELD fortress.

She herself didn't dare go inside, as she'd told the kids.  She had no desire to be their weapon anymore than Hydra's.  But she did need their help.  So for now she'd watch and see what they'd do.

Idly, she glanced up, as she noticed a pair of civilians in the alley across the street, trying to remain hidden and doing a pathetic job of it (in her eyes, at least).  Two women and a man.  They too seemed to be watching the SHIELD installation.  As she watched, the man, a blonde, took out a mirror and reflected a light to the very top most window in a series of blinks.  Morse code.  At her current angle, X23 couldn't make it out very well.  But she did see it was answered by someone inside of the SHIELD facility.

Interesting.

Very interesting.

                                                ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

**Authors Notes:**

Okay, I think that last bit with Colonel Wraith was pushing the limit of this story's rating just a bit.  Still, it was worth it, don't you think?  Is anyone else surprised by SHIELDS reaction?  Well, fret not, for all things shall be explained in time.

Elisabeth Braddock-Grey: I confess, I stole that from the X2 movie comic/book, but yeah.  Don't you just hate intolerant people?  And thanks for the present, it's the best I've gotten so far.

Sashi: Ah, didn't know that.  I thought his father was a human nobility of some kind in Europe named Eric.  And that's why he was abandoned after Mystique gave birth to him (in the comics at least) since she'd been exposed as a mutant because of her son.  I got the idea that his father had a latent x-gene from one of Internutter's stories, actually.

Unknown Source: Terribly sorry.  Did not mean to sound like whiney know-it-all.  But I honestly don't see any mention of Wolverine being any stronger than somebody who just works out often.  He just seems stronger in cartoons and comics 'cause they're, well, cartoons and comics.  As for the unlikely trio, well does this chapter answer your question?

Faith Darkholme: Yeah, I loved that scene too.  And the one above with Wanda.  As for the names, I am keeping them mostly by their non-mutant names.  But someone might not know a real name, and this story comes from a lot of points of view.  Like, for examples, apart from episode one, has anyone seen Toad called anything other than that?  My point.  Besides, some I don't even know their real names.  Terminator, good.  Terminator 2, awesome.  Terminator 3... needed Cameron and Hamilton, but not bad on the whole.

Rogue14: I know, don't you just hate people like that?  I know I certainly do.

Todd Fan: Of course the Morlocks are still there.  And, er… Juggernaut.  Calling him Juggy sounds… wrong.  Like those women on 'The Man Show'.

Gyuumajo: And Jean saying them is any different?  They're force-fed philosophy at the mansion.  Some of it just rubs off of 'lil Spyke.  Besides, deep down, he's a good person, just like Lance.

Emerald Lightning Goddess: Favorite?  Wow, thanks.  But my vacation might be cancelled now, due to that frickin' hurricane.  So if it is, you all can look forward to many more updates.

Glaivester: Well, I think Sinister always considered himself a mutant, at any rate.  But I suppose it doesn't matter overly.  But I did not know that Xavier was naturally bald because of his mutation.  A parody of this story would indeed be very twisted.  Oh and I do like this 'Essex Plan' of yours.  Very interesting, keep up the good work


	20. XX

"It would seem Fury is not as trustworthy as we would've liked," stated Eric angrily, as he confronted Logan about their captor.  It was late in the evening, and most of the younger kids had dropped off to sleep, leaving only Remy, Logan and Eric alert and awake.

"He does have a point.  We're not much without our powers," replied Logan.

"Speak for yourself, mon ami," stated Remy, shuffling his card deck.

"I think I just did... and will you stop that.  Its tickin' me off," he growled back at the Cajun.  Remy didn't so much as bat an eyebrow, but he did stop, placing his cards back into one of the many pockets located within his trench coat.

"At least we know now where the base is," replied Logan.  "Wanda can lead us there, if we can get back to the Blackbird."

Suddenly the door slid open and the mutants therein tensed, rousing the younger members to prepare.

Raven stood at the door, beckoning them, motioning them to be quiet.  At her side stood a rather elderly woman in dark violet robes, who looked surprisingly out of place and calm inside the SHIELD facility.  "Move it," whispered Raven, beckoning the others.  "Agatha's disabled the guards, but we only have so long before her sleep spell wears off and they wake up... now move it."

True to her word, Raven and Agatha led the others out of the facility without encountering any guards (sleeping as they were) and to the field where the Blackbird was.  Since it'd been hidden, SHIELD hadn't yet found it.  The mismatched group boarded the X-Jet, surprised to see yet another woman waiting the back.  Rogue's foster mother, the blind mutant known by some as Destiny, and others as Irene Alders.  Standing behind her was a more familiar face to those present.  Warren Worthington the III.

"We're here, Destiny..." said Raven, making her way over to her good friend and placing a reassuring hand on the blind woman's shoulder.

"Ah, good... everything is as it should be..." she stated quietly.

"What is she talking about?" asked Logan, as he set about preparing the Blackbird for take off.

"Destiny had a vision shortly before the mutants lost their powers," stated Agatha quietly from her place near the back of the room.  "She knew this would happen, so she set about to contact myself and Mystique so we would be prepared."

"And they picked me up in New York earlier.  Said I'd be 'useful'," stated Warren, obviously displeased by the choice of wording.

"Good to know..." replied Wolverine, flipping the switch that started up the jet's engines.

"Wait a minute... if all mutants lost their powers... how did you put those guards to sleep?" asked Jamie, glancing up at the elderly woman with innocent curiosity.  She smiled down at him.

"I'm not a mutant," she replied with a mysterious smile.

"Wanda, Jamie, both of you I need directions," stated Logan, beckoning the two kids over, as they dutifully provided instructions as best they could to the hidden facility.  True, they'd been on foot for the most part, but the general direction they'd traveled, east, made it easy enough to find.  They spotted the base easily enough.  A heavily guarded facility, it was built right into the side of the mountain with a big steel door.  It looked thick enough to survive a nuclear blast, and from what Jamie and Wanda had been able to tell them and Eric and Logan could figure, it could likely only be opened from the inside.

Logan eased the blackbird down a good mile from the facility, well out of range of radar or human eyesight, in a clearing in the woods.  Then he and the others headed into the back to confer and decided on a strategy.  He activated the console in the back, showing a rough schematic of the base based on their first fly-by.

"I think we can all agree a frontal assault will not work," he stated.  "Therefore, our best option is to slip inside undetected, grab whoever we can, and get the hell out before we're noticed."

"I take it dat where I come in?" asked Gambit with a smirk, flipping a card (the ace of spades) between his fingers.

"Unfortunately it is," replied Logan, giving him a brief glance.  "You and me head in through this airduct," he said, tapping the console to indicate it.  "From there, we find the control room and open the doors... get everyone else inside, and work from there."

"We'll need some cover," stated Eric.  "Those guards out front won't let us get very far."

"My disciple and I shall handle that," stated Agatha quietly.  Wanda, by her side, nodded.

"Good," replied Logan.  In truth he didn't care how the crazy witches pulled it off, long as it worked.  "Now all we need is a miracle."

The sun started to rise on what could have been the mutants last day on earth.

                                                ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"So where's this one go?"

"Stash her in the tubes with the other freaks."

The mutants, most of whom had already had a poor night's sleep, were jolted awake as the lights suddenly flared up around them and some more guards filed in, dragging with them yet another mutant.

To her shock, Ororo recognized her from the night before.  It was Stall.  But that meant the Morlocks had been attacked.  Ororo started to panic.  There was no sign of Evan.  Did that mean he'd escaped?  Or been killed?  Well, either way, she thought bitterly, at least he wasn't at the mercy of a madman.

Stall was thrown into her own chamber and the glass sealed down around her.  Ororo winced again, feeling immediately sympathy.  This enclosed place was doing nothing for her.  How she longed for the free, open skies.  Even the big chamber outside of her glass prison would be a welcome relief.

                                                ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"I hope you're not suggesting we climb?" asked Remy.

He and Logan stood at the base of the mountain, on the side opposite the base.  The ventilation shaft in question they wanted was a great deal further up, barely in the line of their vision, along a sheer cliff face.

"Yup," replied Logan, strapping on some artificial claws to his wrists.  The sort ninjas used for climbing, but made of steel, designed to punch right through stone and give a good grip.  Having them on made Logan smile a little as he smacked them into the cliff face and started to haul himself up.

"Think I'll take the express route," stated Remy, placing the card back in his trench coat and pulling out the two halves of his staff, sliding them together and screwing them into place.  Taking an extension from another part of his trench coat, he attached it to the top, took careful aim, and fired off his grapple line, watching with satisfaction as it sunk into the rock above the ventilation shaft and dug in firmly.  Giving the middle of his staff a tap for gradual line in, he started the vertical walk-climb to the top, giving Wolverine a mock salute as he passed him by.

"See you at the top!"

Logan just grumbled, and redoubled his pace, claws moving as if they were a part of him (and why not, he'd had so much practice) as he used them to haul himself up the cliff face.

Midway up, he felt short of breath, holding on as a cough fitting overcame him, and he grumbled to himself.  Had a mirror been handy, he also would've noticed how more and more gray hair was starting to replace his previously black locks.  Even a few white hairs had appeared at his temples.  Every bone joint in his body ached from the metal on metal friction,  but he stubbornly choked down the pain and continued.  Slowly, steadily, he continued to climb up after Gambit.  It would take him a while, but he had no plans on dying today or anytime soon.

                                                ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Come my apprentice... it is time we began our work," stated Agatha, as usual walking slowly to the edge of the woods.  Nothing seemed to convince the woman to go any faster, she set her own pace in life, doing what she pleased, when she pleased.  Wanda trailed behind her.

"How will we do it, Mistress?  I know my concealing spell, but it only works on those not moving..."

"A concealing spell will not suffice here.  Instead we must make use of more natural resources," stated the elderly woman, motioning to the ground.  The morning sun was just peeking over the rim of the mountain, and a morning fog had rolled in.  Wanda gasped as she understood her teacher's plan.

"Just do as I do, Wanda... your powers will enhance the spell, I will handle its proper shape," stated Agatha, holding up her hands and concentrating.  She and Wanda began to chant softly.

"Annal nak thrak, usth beth bedtad, dok'kiel, kiente," they chanted, their stares vacant, their words moving in sync, their hands outstretched as the magic pooled around them.  "Annal nak thrak, usth beth bedtad, dok'kiel, kiente... Annal nak thrak, usth beth bedtad, dok'kiel, kiente..."

The fog thickened, growing, spreading through trees and, more importantly, up the mountain to cover the entire outside of the fortress, making it impossible for those soldiers to see their hands in front of their faces, let alone each other.  This would make the rescue effort easier.

The two witches continued their chant, and the fog thickened.

                                                ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Remy led the way through the narrow air duct, crawling forward on his hands as he found the grating and cautiously peered out, checking for guards.  He could hear Logan's labored breathing behind him and quietly hoped that no one would hear them.  If they got caught, the future of the mutant species were pretty much boned.  Not that Remy cared for certain members of the mutant races (Mystique and Sabertooth springing instantly to mind) but then again, he didn't exactly care for the idea of living in a slave camp the rest of his life.  However long that was.

Thus, he pulled the grate down and poked his head out, sliding out and landing gracefully on the ground, his trench coat swishing around his legs as he glanced left and right for any sign of the guards, bo staff in his hands.  Seeing none, he gave Logan a hand down, wincing a little at the sight of the man.  His skin was starting to wrinkle.

Logan shook him off angrily as the two headed in what they hoped was the direction of the main doors down one of the corridors.  They had to move fast for this to work.

Remy tapped Logan's shoulder, directing his attention to a nearby door which read 'main door controls' on the side.

Logan smirked, the bad guys were making it too easy.

Remy leaned his bo staff against the wall and tapped the console to open the door, sauntering in as if he owned the place, smiling as the two guards on either side raised their weapons, aiming right for his head.

"Mornin' gents.  Care to see a card trick?" he asked with a smirk, holding out his ace of spades away from his body, drawing their attention as he flipped the card, making it vanish.  Before either guard could react Remy launched himself forward and slammed his fist into one's jaw.  The other was quickly subdued by Logan, who grabbed his gun and decked him across the chin, sending him reeling, unconscious.

"Hmmmm... there it is," stated Remy with a smirk, making the card appear as if by magic behind the subdued guard's ear.  He placed it back in his deck, as Logan made his way to the controls.  With a flick of a switch, the main doors opened.

                                                ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Eric had been watching, of course, outside in the woods just a short distance away from Agatha and Wanda.  He had no desire to be too close to his daughter once she regained her powers.  Thus, until he could have Mastermind restore his illusions, he would keep a safe distance.  It was a relief when she'd agreed to go help the witch.  And the fog was working nicely.

How fortunate Charles seemed to keep NV binoculars in his Blackbird.  Thus, it was easier for the second team to see that the great huge steel doors had been opened, and for the most part the security seemed unaware of it.

"That's our cue..." he stated quietly, glancing back at the others.  "Move quickly and move quietly."

Eric, Kitty, Raven, Warren, Forge and Arcade, the second team, moved quickly, staying crouched down low so that those few guards with NV wouldn't noticed them against the ground.  They hadn't had a chance to change into their uniforms, but most of them wore black or dark clothing anyone, so they'd easily get by.  Thankfully, they were not noticed as the slid inside the main doors and ran into an aged Logan.

"Mr. Logan?  Are you like, okay?" asked Kitty, her concern obvious.

Logan grumbled, leaning against the wall as the team made their way down the corrider.  "I'm fine half-pint... go on I'll catch up.  Just gotta... catch my breath..." he replied after a short while.

Remy met up with the others at the control both, already with a small, crudely drawn map taken from the central computer.

"Alright, I think I got it figured out," he said.  "This room," he stated, tapping a big, central looking place.  "Is labeled mutant containment, so that's likely where our friends are.  But this also caught my attention," he added, tapping another such point on the map.

"Nullification chamber?" asked Raven, tilting her head to one side, her eyes narrowing.

"If this is what I think it is..." started Remy.

"The it's the perfect solution," finished Eric.

"I'll go..." stated Raven, and left no room for argument.  Forge and Arcade immediately were ordered to go with her, to keep them out of the main line of danger.  Which left the rest to race (as quickly as they could while still waiting for Logan to keep up) down the corridors to find their friends and set them free.

Guards were found, here and there, but using the element of surprise and some well placed martial arts on behalf of Kitty and Remy, they were quickly dealt with.  Almost too quickly.

"We're walking into a trap," wheezed Wolverine, as he fell to one knee.  Angrily he waved the others on, who did so, some with more reluctance than others.  None had heard his warning.

"A fine mess you're all in," came a harsh, disagreeable voice just behind him.  Logan didn't bother to turn around, he knew who it was.  "Pity you won't be much use here."

"So you save 'em then," he grumbled, struggling to stand.

"Fine I will."

Wolverine collapsed against the ground as his friend sprinted on ahead of him to join the others.

                                                ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

**Authors Notes:**

Just curious, does anyone recognize the chanting Wanda and Agatha are doing?  If not then shame on you, that movie was classic.  And Logan is dying, how sad.  Well, the rescue teams have divided up and are heading towards a trap.  Anyone takin' bets, 'cause my money's on the heroes.  Despite my love of angst-ridden stories, all I ever seem to write are happy endings.

Rain: Still lovin' it?  Or did Wraith spook ya a little?

Sharpsnout: Take your time, and reread if you like it.  The many subtle hints and foreshadowing you'll enjoy, methinks.  Oh and if you like LotR and XME, you might want to check out my other stories too.  Let me know what you think.

Todd Fan: What are you, stalking me?  How do you know the instant I put up chapters?!

Gyuumajo: I don't think it was all that philosophical.  He just knows right from wrong.  If he launched into some MLK mutant speech then yes, he'd be way out of character.  Oh and yeah, Jean's spoiled, but she's showing signs of improvement now that she's no longer the Queen of Bayville.

Illyana Rasputin: Thank you, thank you.  No Cain didn't go with the Morlocks, he's going solo as he usually does.  But don't worry, there'll be more of him involved later.

Arekanderu: Thanks.  And don't worry, plenty more to come.

Rogue14: Oh don't worry, Wanda will be alright.  Though not necessarily the way she wants to be.

Faith Darkholme: You'll see.  Though if I miswrote, it was three people that X23 saw, not two.  Besides, that bit above might have just answered half of your question.  As for Psylocke, she will not appear again until the very end in a cameo, because she's not yet appeared on the Evo show.

Unknown Source: A few more experiments maybe, but I'll save terrible genetic alterations on the whole for another story.  I am keeping this in the Evo timeline, after all.  And yeah, I loved Wanda and Raven smackin' around Eric.  Gives you a good idea of just how much people hate him, despite his 'noble' aspirations.

Elisabeth Braddock-Grey: SHIELD, for all its good intentions, is a military organization.  And one thing I've learned watching so many movies, is that the military always are the ones who screw things up.  Don't worry though, you'll like what I've planned for SHIELD in a few chapters.  I know, Colonel Wraith creeps me out too.  But Sabertooth deserves at least a little of what's coming to him.  What goes around, comes around.

*B: Well thank you.  Glad you like it.

Drakensis: It was 18 last time I was in England, and I'm not in a habit of every few years checking their laws.  But thanks for the update, much obliged.


	21. XXI

As Eric, Remy, Warren and Kitty soon found out Logan had been right.

Guards suddenly sprang out of the adjacent corridors, bullets flying everywhere as they made a break for it, blindly running down this corridor and that as more appeared.  Eric cursed as he recognized their methods.  They were being herded into a trap.

Finally they found themselves at a dead end.  A big, steel door, with no console to open it.  And on all three corridors leading from the room, filled with armed guards.  Three per mutant.  One, presumably their commander, stepped forward and activated his radio.

"Intruders captured sir.  What do you want done with them?"

"Is Wolverine with them?" asked the static voice on the other side.

"No sir... doesn't appear to be," replied the soldier, sweeping his gaze over those assembled.

"Well then find him, he has to be here.  And Wraith is getting impatient."

"Understood sir," replied the soldier, putting his radio away.  He aimed his gun square at Eric, who was standing at the front of the group.  "You gonna come quietly?"

Suddenly a trio of knives were flung through the air, slicing into the legs of the commander and two of the soldiers, as a black-clad figure leapt into the fray and launched herself at the soldiers.

Chaos, naturally, erupted.

Remy swung out his staff and tripped two of the soldiers as Kitty leapt over his back and high-kicked one unlucky fellow right in the face, sending him reeling.  The soldiers opened fire, but in the close quarters they were afraid of hitting the own men on the opposite ends and in the middle of the fray, leaving them easy pickings for Warren, Eric, Remy and Kitty.  The mystery fighter flipped backwards and adopt one of the soldiers, slamming her open palm into his solar plexus and knocking him back as she whirled around and circle kicked another across the jaw, sending him reeling.

In a few seconds, it was over.

But the rescuers watched cautiously the sight of their black-clad ally, curious to know why they'd been rescued.  The answer was soon provided when Logan slowly walked up behind them.  He looked awful, but managed to keep his pride as he carried himself along.  The black-clad warrior shrugged of her mask, tossing it aside and flipping her burgundy locks out of her face as she regarded them all with her haunted, dark expression.

X23 had saved them.

Before this happy reunion could proceed, however, there down the corridors came they heavy, steady clank of iron footsteps, and three sentinel-soldiers filed in from each of the exits, weapons trained on the rescuers.

"Halts Mutants," they stated simultaneously.  "Surrender now or you will be terminated."

Reluctantly, the rescuers glanced from one another, but one look told them that none had the guts or the ability to take down three heavily armed machine-soldiers.  Especially without their mutant powers.  Slowly, they raised their hands in the gesture of surrender.

                                                ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

To their credit, Raven and her team were making much better progress.  The area surrounding the nullifier was much more heavily guarded, but the ventilation shafts were no where near as protected, as the red-headed woman and her two charges crawled along, Forge's bag of gadgets clunking together as the three broke open the shaft and slipped into the room quietly.  Raven quickly knocked out the one guard present, then set about examining the controls.

"Whoa... what is that?" asked Arcade, pointing up at the chamber that held Leech.  The green scaly mutant gave no indication he'd heard them, just continued to sleep in his prison of red rubies and glass.

"That is the source of this," stated Raven quietly, examining the computer controls, running through its files as best she could.

"Great... let's nuke this thing," stated Forge, pulling out one of his more powerful of explosives and attaching it to the side of the chamber.  It would blow it open, but hopefully wouldn't hurt the being inside.  Just flip a few buttons and...

Suddenly the door slid open.  Arcade ducked down behind the computer controls as a sentinel-soldier, like the ones from the institute, stepped inside, aiming its weapon at Forge, then at Raven.  Apparently, it hadn't noticed the red-headed boy.

"Halt Mutants," it stated in cold, heavy tones, its single gold eye glowing.  "Surrender now."

Raven and Forge reluctantly raised their hands.

                                                ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The rescuer team: Logan, Eric, Remy, Warren, Kitty and now X23 were escorted by the machine-soldiers into the main room where Trask was waiting for them, as well as most of the companions.  The mutants were frowns.  Trask wore a sneer.

"Excellent work, Master Mold," he said, as the machine forced them towards the center, onto their knees, hands behind their heads.

"Secondary Team has apprehended the mutants Forge and Mystique," replied the computerized face.  Logan, upon hearing this, raised his head a little.  Arcade hadn't been mentioned.  Maybe the kid had escaped, and there was hope left after all.

"Well this is truly excellent," commented Wraith, as he slid alongside Trask from a side door.  "My prize subject, here and intact... how excellent."

Wolverine inwardly chilled at the sight of the black-clad ghoul, though outwardly he remained as defiant as ever, despite the fact that he felt he'd collapses at any minute.  It was getting harder to breath...

"You two," commented Wraith, to the sentinel-soldiers behind them.  "Bring Wolverine with me before he keels over... I still have need of him."

"Voice authorization... denied," they replied in eerie unison.  Wraith frowned.

"That's an order!  Bring Wolverine along now... I don't have all day," he said, his voice raising.

"Voice authorization... denied."

"Trask!" roared Wraith, turning on his comrade.  "These sentinels are defective.  They refuse to obey my orders."

Trask seemed equally confused, and was about to turn back to Master Mold when two more sentinel-soldiers filed in alongside him and grabbed his arms.  The original two captured Wraith in a similar manner.

"What are you doing?!" roared Trask.  "Master Mold, disable these defective things."

"They are not defective.  Your commands have been overridden, creator.  The sentinels only listen to me now," replied the computerized Master Mold, his yellow eyes glinting oddly.

"You are ignoring your prime directive!" yelled out Trask, as he and Wraith were flung into the circle of mutant rescuers on the ground.  All around, twin metallic tentacles in the mutant containment chambers grabbed those therein around the wrists, restraining them as the glass slid open, leaving them once again able to speak and be heard.  Only Charles was untouched, as a spider-sentinel moved forward and grabbed him, dragging him forward.

"Incorrect," replied Master Mold.  "Objectives have changed because of new data."

"What new data?!" shouted Trask angrily, trying to stand.  The sentinel-soldier nearest him knocked him onto his knees again.

"Prime Directive:," stated Master Mold.  "The capture of mutants, to protect humans."

"Yes, that is correct!  You are supposed to protect humans from mutants!" replied Trask.

"Mutants... -are- human," replied Master Mold in cold, final tones.  Trask, unable to even believe such a ridiculous piece of trite, cursed.  Loudly.  "Thus, it has become apparent my primary directive is to protect humans from themselves."

"That's not it!  Listen to me!  I am your creator!" shouted Trask.

"Ignore subject Trask, Bolivar.  Consider non-threat hostile," ordered Master Mold.  The spider-machine dragged Charles forward as all those present watched helplessly.  The far wall slid open, underneath Master Mold's impressive screen/face, and yet more sentinel-soldiers filed in.  Mark II sentinels, the advanced prototypes, all armed.  They filed in distinct military fashion, breaking off onto two sides as the ground slid forward with a slab of metal.  Its design left little doubt that it was designed for human occupation.  And this was driven home when Charles Xavier was flung onto it and strapped down, his head locked into place by a rather sinister looking helmet resembling cerebro's interface.

"With the mutant Charles Xavier in my custody," stated Master Mold.  "And his mutant powers of telepathy under my control, I can no sense and locate any and all humans worldwide.  They will be soon placed under my control.  Those that resist shall be terminated."

"Let him go you filthy..." started Logan, coming to his feet.  But a sentinel-soldier knocked him flat on his back, aiming its weapon at his chest.

"Now, we can finally begin..." stated Master Mold.

                                                ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Meanwhile, back in the nullification room, the sentinel-soldier had not yet received orders other than to capture Raven and Forge.  Thus, it was merely keeping an eye on them.  However, it was programmed to recognize mutant-genome signatures as hostiles, and human-genomes as allies.  This one had not yet been updated by Master Mold, and thus, to it, Arcade was just another human.

Meaning it ignored him as he set to work, pulling the small hacker-device out of his satchel and attaching it to the main computer, tapping in some commands.

"Alright you," he whispered, unaware that the machine was ignoring him, and trying to keep unnoticed behind the main console as he was.  A smirk lit his features as he broke through the pathetic defenses and reached the main data.  "Let's play."

                                                ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A small ripple broke the air as Master Mold adjusted the controls of the nullifier through his computer network.  The ripple centered on Charles, breaking him of the mutant-restraint and finally restored his powers to their original state.  However, he was not to enjoy them.  Almost immediately Master Mold activated his device, and Charles found his mind, for lack of a better word... digitized.

It was like cerebro, where he was conscious of every living mind all around the world.  Mutant or human.  But this time he could sense the malevolence of the computer being known as Master Mold as it sought to use him to find them, to turn them all into data so his drones and sentinels could hunt them all down and make them prisoners in capsules for the rest of their living days.  So he fought, struggled against the control, but his mind was weak against the relentless power of Master Mold.

Suddenly his burdened lightened.  Master Mold was distracted.  Charles eagerly escaped the power of the device, and opened his eyes, his mind once more returned to his body.

He lifted his head as best he could, glancing at those around.  At the rescuers in a circle in the middle of the room.  At the worried look of his students and the Brotherhood boys, and even Magneto's acolytes.  And finally, he could sense their minds and worry as well, once more.  He sighed in relief, but their battle was not yet over.

He stretched out his mind, to a single individual who could help them.

_End it_, Charles said.

Above him, Master Mold's image flickered as his system started to go haywire.

                                                ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Arcade did his best, hacking in and sending his own personal viruses deep into the system that was Master Mold.  Chaos was going to run rampant.  But a particularly deadly virus he reserved, sending through the ether to the sentinel-soldier in the room with him, Forge and Raven.  The damn thing shook, twitched, gun falling from its lifeless fingers as it collapsed backwards, inert.

Raven wasted no time in retrieving the fallen weapon and blowing the sentinel-soldier's head clean off with a powerful blast of blue energy.  Forge cheered.

"Alright, let's do this," she grinned, holding the rather unwieldy weapon against her shoulder.  "Blow that damn nullifier to hell, kid," she said.

"Yeah!  Time to party like its 1979!" shouted Forge as he flipped the appropriate switch and he, Arcade and Raven ducked down behind the computer console.  "Fire in the hole!"

The explosion made the room rock, but it served its purpose.  The machine was broken, the glass shattered, the gems inert.  The green boy inside, leech, twitched and opened his eyes fully, staring out as if he'd just woken from a long sleep.

Raven fell to the ground and screamed, her body shifting as blue scales covered her body, her eyes closing tightly in pain as she growled like a wounded animal.  Then, in a short while, the pain passed and she stood, reborn.  She grinned, showing her fangs, and opened her eyes, now the yellow pupil, black-slit cat eyes that haunted the nightmares of her enemies.  Mystique had returned.

"Now to end this," she grinned, raising her newly acquired weapon.  No one messed with Mystique and got away with it.

                                                ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"P.. primary... objective... overrrrriden," stated Master Mold, his face flickering as Arcade's hacking started to take effect.  His systems were crashing as they tried to fight the computer virus.  "En-gage secondary objec-tt-tive."

The sentinel-soldiers raised their heads and their weapons both, spreading out and heading towards the prisoners with murderous intent in their cold, golden eyes.

Then it happened.

Kurt, Beast, Warren, Todd, Fred, Logan and X23 immediately fell to the ground, screaming, as their bodies morphed and shifted, becoming blue, sprouting wings, gaining mass, or whatever their original shape had been as their powers were restored.

In his cell, a blast of red-hot optic energy poured from Scott's eyes, as he closed them, re-aimed his head, and blasted off the metal tentacles holding him in place.

Electricity crackled around the fingers of Ray and the now solid white eyes of Ororo.

Amara's hair became wreathed in flame.

Everything metal in the room shuddered as its master was returned to his proper throne of power.

Remy's eyes changed, and they too burned with golden, unused kinetic energy.

Rogue, unnoticed by any of the others, shed a tear.

"DanGER-ous HOS-tiles I-I-I-IDENTIFIED!" stated Master Mold, the virus making him sound almost panicked as the sentinel-soldiers took in their new orders.  However, the flickering suddenly vanished.

Deep inside the many 0's and 1's that was the code that made up Master Mold, a simple program was executed.

Termination.

"DESTROY THEM!!"

It before was chaotic, then now all burning hell broke loose.

                                                ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

**Authors Notes:**

Yay, final climactic battle, next chapter!  I love writing fight scenes, and this promises to be the mother of all X-Men Evolution fights.  Oh and Sins of the Son was an excellent XME episode.  I love how they evolized Legion, even if it wasn't quite what I expected.  I suspect we'll be seeing more of him in future.  For that matter, a fifth season seems definite now.  How else can they resolve the Legion, Omega Red -and- Apocalypse story threads?  Plus I hear they're bringing in Dani Moonstar (AKA Mirage)!  X-Men Evolution is not done, methinks.  Which is a good thing, of course.

Emerald Lightning Goddess: The movie is Exaclibur.  Merlin, and later Morgana, used the words to perform their spells.  As for the mystery person, you'll see soon enough.  Vacation was wonderful, thanks for asking.

Faith Darkholme: 'course Wolverine won't die.  He's one of my favorite characters (though I'm starting to like X23 more for the same reasons I liked him).  As for the base, well, interesting you should mention that...

Gyuumajo: Oh this story is nowhere near done.  Prepare to be blown away.

Todd fan: Actually I was hoping to use some of the chanting from the Craft, but couldn't think of any good lines.  And yes, Wanda looks and acts almost so much like Nancy it's scary.

Unknown Source: Well there are your captive mutants.  At least, they were captive, now they're free.  And I get to write out the cool fight scenes, yay!  And I'd've loved to have done more for Logan and his aging, but unfortunately I'm juggling so much around its hard to get to it as much as I'd like.

Mayra: Gambit's metal staff has always been called a bo staff, at least what I've heard.  Its an oriental weapon.  Go figure why he likes cards so much.  And while I don't know the exact history of Evo Gambit, Comic Gambit worked with Mystique and Sabertooth, and didn't like either of them very much ('cause they're not very nice people, of course).  Nullification is just a fancy word for canceling, abolishment, removing of.  Ow x 22.  Well, thank you kindly.  *plucks a voodoo doll of Mayra and Tyriel1 out of the air and has them kiss and hug*

Scribbler: Wow, that means a lot coming from you, thanks.  Actually I'd been tossing around a mutants-lose-their-powers story idea for a while now, Sholio's 'KiBlind' just gave me some ideas to make it more concrete.  And I purposefully made the first few chapters short to draw in readers, I usually write much much more.  You live in England?  Wow, that's awesome, I have family there.  And yeah, nobody ever pays attention to the laws here either.  Go figure.  This reply would self-destruct but we're having some budget cutbacks, so when you're done you need to crumple it up and toss it in the bin.  ^_^

Jenny08: Wolverine has plenty of friends, he just rarely shows it.  He's the gruff sort.  Though yeah I remember Morph.  Interesting fellow, he was.

Wykd Maverick: Well I did do a great deal of study on the occult a while back, glad you think I'm doing so well.

Talliecat: No more Spider-man, sorry.  Just one more cameo at the end with Psylocke, Sinister and the others.  But X23, as you can see, hell yeah.

Elisabeth Braddock-Grey: Plenty more to come, as always, and many surprises in store for you and Logan.

Rogue14: Still worried about poor Logan?  I'd worry more about the bad guys.  Its like Kitty said, he's ready to dice up, like, half the landscape.


	22. XXII

Four humans.

Thirty-six mutants.

Twenty mark II sentinel-soldiers.

One slightly damaged, psychotic super computer.

One room slightly larger than the DR back at the Institute.

                                                ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Sentinel-soldiers immediately stepped forward, weapons raised and blasting, determined to take down the mutants before they freed themselves from the metal tentacles in their respective cells and became more dangerous.

Jean shielded her half of the room with her TK shield, concentrating hard as blue blast after blast rained down against her shield, making it buckle.  It was obvious she wouldn't last long.  On the other side of the room, Shadowcat called out to Avalanche and Colossus, who'd just transformed into his metallic form and ripped off his own shackles.

"Lance!  Barrier!  Piotr, give him a hand!" she shouted, praying that they'd pull it off in time.  Avalanche, who was familiar with her choice of wording thrust out his hand and concentrated, furrowing his brows as the earth started to shake.  The ground, made of stone instead of the steel the walls had been constructed of, split in a neat line that surrounded the rest of the containment cells.  Colossus leapt forward, landing with a thud that made the room shudder as he grabbed the half of the room and heaved with all his might, lifting it up in a makeshift shield as the mutants furiously worked to free themselves.

Cyclops wasted no time in freeing Jean and his brother, Havoc.  The three of them quickly turned their attentions to the sentinel-soldiers as they left the duty of rescuing their friends to the others.

Nightcrawler, once the blue furry mutant regained his footing, 'ported out of his bonds, grabbing Amanda and teleporting her up onto the walkway (the safest place in his mind) and freeing the others one by one as Colossus and Jean continued to keep him shielded from harm.  Shadowcat ducked behind Colossus for safety, in case the big Russian needed a hand, though so far the few blasts that had penetrated the flooring had slammed into his metal hide, bouncing off harmlessly as rainwater.

Gambit flipped up some cards into his eager hands and charged them with the warm kinetic energy that once more flowed through his system, throwing them left and right in an effort to distract and confuse the sentinel-soldiers.  Quickly he leapt forward, up and over the raised flooring and ducking past his comrade Colossus to the cage where Rogue still lay entrapped.  Giving her a friendly smirk, he lay his hands down on the metallic tentacles to either side of her and carefully focused his power, blowing them clean off without harming the pale-skinned mutant.

"Save me a dance for later chere," he said with a smirk and back flip.  "Promised da petites I'd get 'em out first," he added, pointing at the still entrapped forms of Jubilee and Wolfsbane, right next to Rogue.  Rogue nodded, keeping alongside him as he charged the tentacles to free the girls, since at the moment her powers were next to useless.  So were Magneto's, for that matter.  The master of magnetism had hoped to end the battle quickly, but to his shock and horror the sentinel-soldiers barely noticed his attempts to control them.  They'd been made from plastic, not metal.  It seemed Trask had not been idle in the days since the mutant emergence.  Magneto was forced to duck aside next to the prone forms of Angel and Wolverine as the sentinels blasted the spot he'd been standing not a few moments prior.  Still, he was not helpless.  Those few metal objects in the room he quickly brought under his power and started flinging left and right at the sentinel-soldiers.

Angel shrugged off his trench coat, grateful he'd worn a shirt with holes for his wings as they all but burst out behind him and he took to the air, drawing the fire of the sentinel-soldiers and giving more time to the other mutants.  He dove, wheeled, twisted and turned to dodge the blasts.  But here he was in his element, the air, and nothing could touch him.

Wolfsbane growled, assuming her half-wolf form, or as it was more commonly known her lycanthropic form.  She was about to leap forward and make herself useful when one of the sentinel-soldiers blasted the floor in front of her, 'causing her to jump back with a loud yelp, watching as the machine took a few steps forward and aimed right at her head... but before it could pull the trigger a blue and black blur sped past her and slammed into the automaton's chest, knocking it back and smashing it against the floor.  The blur stopped and fell down onto two feet and turned to face Wolfsbane as she stood upright again.  A blue and black blur with corn-yellow hair and an easy smile.  Cannonball had saved her.

But they weren't out of the woods yet, they realized, as the sentinel-solider stood back on its feet and continued its relentless task of trying to destroy them.

Thunder crackled overhead, and all eyes turned as Storm emerged from her cell, her eyes glowing violet-white, her ivory tresses whirling about her head as the elements came at her behest to deal death and destruction.  Storm did not so much fly so much as floated up towards the ceiling, taking aim with her hands and white-hot bolts of lightning sprang from them, slamming into three such sentinel-soldiers and sending them flying into the wall.  Though they too had been prepared for such electrical damage, and apart from a slight slowness of movement, they were otherwise undamaged.  One, less fortunate than the others, had had its left arm blown clear off. 

Berzerker, watching from the sides, could see that more juice was going to be needed to take care of these damn things.  Glancing around, he spotted the Blob, and beckoned the gigantic mutant over as he turned to the wall, running his hand along the side... there!

"Smash this!" he shouted, and was mildly relieved when the Blob complied, breaking open the wall and exposing the electronic wiring which Berzerker eagerly grabbed onto, soaking up the juice.  His hair stood on end (not that many could tell, it was so short) and his entire body became wreathed in electrical waves as he started to power up.  Blob, sensing his plan, stood in front of him to give him the time he needed, providing one of the most immovable of barriers yet.

He just hoped they'd have enough time.

Toad in the meantime was busy leaping around, trying to keep out of the line of fire and doing a rather poor job of it.  Though he did not realize it, as he backflipped and dodge and turned this way and that, he was doing an invaluable job by keeping the machines distracted as Cyclops and Havoc blasted away at their sides and backs, slowly but surely wearing down the armored hides.  Three more had already fallen to the two Summers boys, with their assistance from Jean keeping them relatively safe in her TK bubble.  It was a common strategy she and Cyclops used, and the addition of his brother Havoc only added that much more firepower.  The three of them could probably take on the danger room's highest setting right about now.  Most of the other mutants had split up into small teams of twos and threes in an effort to ward off the sentinel-soldiers, but all they could do for now was hold their own.

Nightcrawler teleported over to Charles, then teleported him to the far end of the room, near the door, as he stood and made his way to the controls.  He had to get the Professor out of here as soon as possible.  Unfortunately a stray blast shot over their heads, and a pile of broken plaster, metal and rock fell down, knocking Nightcrawler unconscious and pinning Professor X with no one around to assist him.

A near silence came over the battlefield as a distinctive 'snickt' sound filled the air.  Not one, not two, but six sets of adamantium claws sprang from their respective sheaths as Wolverine and his semi-offspring launched themselves in perfect unison at one of the sentinel-soldiers, slicing it to pieces in mere moments.  Their attacks could not have been better coordinated if they had ever trained together, for they knew instinctively when to move with each other as they danced a deadly dance, claws flashing in the air as they ripped to pieces their metallic attackers, leaving shredded arms, legs, heads and torsos twitching on the floor behind them.  Several stray blasters, some still intact, were also tossed aside. 

Now that everyone had been freed Colossus and Shadowcat returned to the fray, with little Stall tagging along to keep safe, but they were quickly ambushed by the spider-sentinel, that until now had been crouched above them on the roof.  It dropped down and immediately opened fire on the three of them.

"Get down!" shouted Colossus, shielding the young girls with his body, energy bouncing off his iron back harmlessly, though it shredded his white sleeveless shirt.  To his surprise, however, Shadowcat leapt up, through his chest and out his back, running straight towards the spider-sentinel and leaping right through it.  The machine shorted out and collapsed, twitching, as she stood triumphantly over it, giving Colossus a victory salute.  He just gaped, watching her.  He had no idea a girl, especially such a young one, could be so powerful of a fighter as this X-Woman Shadowcat.

"Cyclops!" shouted Sunspot, gaining the attention of team Summers as he pointed at the ceiling.  "I could use a hand here!" he added.  Cyclops nodded, nudging his brother and aiming his head upwards at the same time Havoc pointed his hands.  Triple bolts of red energy lanced from Cyclops's eyes and Havoc's hands and hit the ceiling in a wide arch, as they circled around a blew a chunk clear out of the ceiling, raining down huge chunks of stone that quickly reduced two more of the sentinel-soldiers to little more than plastic scrap.  Wolverine and X23 had to jump clear, and Angel swooped out of the way to avoid damage himself.  But more importantly, it allowed the sun to shrine through.  Sunspot stepped forward as the dust cleared, raising his hands and leaning his head back as the glorious hot sun poured its energy over him, and he became his namesake.

"Now we're talkin'!" he shouted gleefully, as he charged headfirst into the next sentinel-soldier and ripped its wiring out bare-handed, his body ablaze with the power of the sun.

The sentinel-soldiers were slowly being beaten back, the main force now reduced to a mere ten, the remainder piles of scrap, sputtering from opening in their torso's or headless bodies, and one now under a pile of thirty-three identical brown-haired boys.  True, their armor was thick, but Bobby's ice helped to weaken it enough for others to blast, break, or slice their way through.

However, Master Mold was not yet finished with the mutants.

                                                ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Unnoticed by the others, Trask and Wraith bid a hasty retreat, opening the main doors to the containment room and sealing the mutants in, sparing not so much as a glance back to Professor X and Nightcrawler as they crawled over them and took off in a dead run, hoping not to run into any other Master Mold controlled sentinels.  Trask took off down an adjacent corner and Wraith followed as Trask led him to a hidden landing pad and helicopter.  Wraith arrived just as Trask had started up the vehicle, preparing for lift-off.

"Where are you going?!" shouted Wraith.

"Getting out of here, what do it look like you fool?!  Master Mold and the mutants can all destroy themselves for all I care," he added angrily.  His inability to control Master Mold had still stung.  So had that stupid mutants-are-human comment.

"You can't just leave me here!" shouted Wraith, jumping onto the edge of the helicopter and grabbing Trask's black jacket.

"Let go of me you freak!" shouted Trask, kicking off his former comrade as he lifted the helicopter up into the air.  Wraith hit the ground hard, and by the time he'd regained his feet Trask was long gone through the sliding ceiling escape route.

"Curse you to hell, you insufferable fool!" shouted Wraith, shaking his fist at the retreating helicopter.  "Well no matter... all I need to is obtain my subject and be on my way as well... there is still time," he hissed, as he made his way back into the complex and too the room where he'd been working on Sabertooth.  Thankfully, no sign of the sentinel-soldiers were around, they were likely busy dealing with the mutants.  Excellent.  All was working out.

Colonel Wraith of the Weapon X Program opened the door and stepped inside.  But there, at the table, the shackles had been shattered, and nobody lay on the cold metal table.  The door slid shut behind Wraith, as he heard a low, sinister growl coming behind him.  Shaking, he turned, to see his worst nightmare hovering over him, half-hidden in the shadows of the room.  The light glinted faintly off the metallic edge of his enormous canines as he took a slow, menacing step forward.

"No..."

"You're gonna pay for what you did to me," growled Sabertooth, as Wraith stumbled backwards against the table, half-lying on it, one handed raised to ward off the behemoth mutant, who gingerly ran his tongue along his now super-sharp, adamantium laced teeth.  "Pity we can't use anesthetic... that'd ruin the fun!"

                                                ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The mutants were winning, as Berzerker returned to the fray and shot a massive electrical bolt at a nearby sentinel-soldier and overloading its circuits, making it collapsing in a pile of scrap.  The other new recruits weren't doing too bad either.  When it came down to it, they had really pulled together as a team worthy of the name X-Men.

Pyro watched in fascination as Magma flamed up, and started to throw her weight around, tossing fireballs at this and that sentinel-soldier.  He smirked, realizing this was the source he needed.

"Yo Sheila!" he shouted over at Magma, who turned in shock at being addressed so rudely by the red-headed aussie.  He didn't even notice, just waved her over.  "Mind tossin' me some fire to start a barbecue?!"

Magma obliged, starting a rather large fire next to the pyrotechnic (and psychotic) mutant, who cackled gleefully, back in his element.  He raised his hands, and three flaming dragons arose from the fire, as he thrust out his hands and they launched forward at the sentinel-soldiers, burning and destroying as blasts of red energy, crackling white lightning, exploding cards, and a slew of other powers laid waste to the last of the sentinel-soldiers, leaving them crumpled and ruined.

But Master Mold was not finished.

Now that the mutants were tired, it was time for round two.  The wall slid back completely, as Master Mold's computerized face vanished, and two full-sized sentinels stepped into view, their great metal heads nearly scraping against the ceiling as their chests spread and blasts of blue energy launched itself at the tired defenders, who scattered in all directions to avoid being outright blasted into oblivion.  Those with offensive powers fought back, but like the prototype, it was an uphill battle.  And these newer versions obviously had been greatly upgraded.  Cyclops's optic blast could barely make a dent.

Then they started to go down.

The Blob was the first, catching the full brunt of an energy blast that knocked the heavy teen down flat onto his back against the wall, shattering the glass of a nearby containment tube (previously being unused).  Havoc and Avalanche went next as a stray energy blast destroyed the walkway above Jean, 'causing her and the Summers team to scattered.  Unfortunately, Havoc barreled into Avalanche, knocking the two boys out.  More of concern, however, was as the walkway above started to teeter, Amanda lost her balance and fell forward, barely managing to snag onto a loose railing as she screamed in terror.  Immediately Nightcrawler was by her side, grabbing her wrist just as they both fell, teleporting them to safety.  Unfortunately his misfired, landing hard on the ground as he cushioned her body with his, though he was knocked unconscious.  Amanda stumbled and rolled over to one side, watching helplessly.  Berzerker, Cannonball, Shadowcat, Quicksilver, Wolfsbane, Beast and Colossus were also fairly quickly brought down and knocked unconscious by the energy blasts of the sentinels, which seemed on a rather painful setting of stun.

However, Master Mold had no intention of taking prisoners.

The two sentinels' eyes glowed briefly as their programming changed, and their weapons barrels narrowed.  Now concentrated blasts poured out, the sort that sliced through flesh, bone and steel as well as a hot knife through butter.  The two moved forward now, and the mutants were hard pressed just to avoid being fried.  Magneto tried once more to bring down the behemoths with his awesome might, but his efforts produced only a shaking of their shoulders, housing the metallic rockets.  True, he could redirect their fire if they tried anything, but in such close quarters, he could easily kill those present as well.  Not a pleasant prospect.

The second sentinel's gaze fell on the unconscious form of Nightcrawler as it raised its hand and prepared to slaughter the blue-furred mutant.  Before it could however, a bright blue bolt of energy slammed into its leg, 'causing it to stumble.  It's head swiveled to the right, when who would it detect but Amanda, using one of the discarded mark II sentinel's weapons to try and save her boyfriend?  The sentinel turned to fire, but it was distracted again by another optic blast, and it and its partner disregarded the rather useless Amanda and the unconscious Nightcrawler.  Jubilee screamed, shooting her sparklers up at the behemoths, but they bounced off like rainwater against their red metal armor, and they didn't even slow.  Still, she continued, not know what else to do, just screaming for someone, anyone, to help her.

Her prayers, it seemed, were answered.

Suddenly a hissing sound, drawing the attention of the defenders as the door to the room melted clean off its hinges, and a two solid feet slammed into it from the otherside, being propelled there by a makeshift bone javelin.  A dark-skinned woman in a yellow sweater stood there, replacing her gloves, and beside her was Spyke, having just knocked down the door.  But Spyke had changed considerably.  All over his body, from his waist up, were huge, plated spikes, covering his skin, sans his face.  And his look was not that of the innocent, street-savvy skater they'd know.  This look reminded them more of Wolverine, of the hardened, deadly warrior.

Spyke wasted no time, springing forward and onto his skateboard as he launched his deadly spikes at the sentinels, drawing their attention as he zigged this way and that.  Scaleface roared from the hallway as she stormed in her giant lizard form, slashing at the sentinels as the other Morlocks poured in, in twos and threes, grabbing the injured and making an escape, particularly after they rescued Stall.  Lucid grabbed the little girl and made his way out of the fight as quickly as he could, since he'd be little use in it.

"Everybody out!" shouted Spyke.  The others needed no such urgings as the remaining injured were gathered and hauled back as those still able to fight distracted and knocked back the sentinels (covered in battle scars but no significant damage) and fleeing through the broken and melted doors.  In the end, the very last, Cyclops, paused at the doorway, glancing back as the sentinels prepared to destroy him.  Jean and Spyke stood by his side.

"Destroy them!  Destroy them all!" roared Master Mold from his computer screen, his face wavering slightly, still fighting the virus Arcade had infected him with.  "I... I... I am Mazzzzzzzzter Mold!  I cannot be destroyed!"

"You are the embodiment of all that is evil," stated Cyclops quietly, almost oblivious to the two towering sentinels as he reached up to his visor and closed his eyes.  Slowly, painfully aware of the risks, he slid the metal and ruby quartz off his face.  "You must be destroyed."

Ruby-red, hot searing energy poured from Cyclops's now exposed eyes as he went to full power, giving both the sentinels and Master Mold the full deadly power of his optic blast, which blanketed the room in a crimson glow.  Master Mold gave one final noise, which sounded vaguely like a mechanized scream, as the sentinels were overwhelmed, their armor vaporized and then the circuits beneath, as the entire room was laid to rubble, one's arm flied clear off its body, smashing into the far wall.  To say the damage done was overwhelming was an understatement.  Not a single piece of metal, plastic or stone survived the blast of the Cyclops at full strength, and he would have cleaved clear through the mountain had it not just at that very moment to weaken and start to crumble.  Huge chunks of the ceiling started to break up as the mountain itself shuddered under the power of Cyclop's optic blast.  Jean and Spyke watched in horror as the chunks fell atop of their friend, and Jean cried out his name in horror.

"SCOTT!!" she shouted, thrusting out her hand to do her best to hold up the chunks of stone, though they were far heavier than anything she'd previously tried to move.  She could barely hold them up.  And the instant her grip wavered...

_No.  I will not let him die!  I loved him_, she howled mentally, and her inner strength blossomed.  To the casual observer (Spyke was at the wrong angle to see) her eyes seemed to blaze with inner fire as she thrust out her hands and angrily shoved the chunks of stone aside, leaving Cyclops unharmed saved for a ton of dust that had accumulated in his lungs.  He coughed as Jean and Spyke took his shoulders and guided him from the room.  Suddenly one of the sentinel's robot arms, somehow having survived the optic blast, jerked suddenly up and fired off a random blast at the group, unable to aim without its sensors.  Still, its blast was accurate enough to serve its purpose.

Spyke made no sound as the bright blue bolt of energy lanced clear through his back and out his chest, slicing clear through his heart.  He collapsed, as Jean and Scott now moved to try and support him, hoping against hope they could save him in time, though the wound looked even to their untrained eyes to be fatal.

Behind them, the system that was Master Mold, though damaged and all but broken to a thousand pieces, if not outright obliterated, managed to execute one final backup program.

Self-Destruction.

                                                ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

**Authors Notes:**

Wow, that was some intense stuff.  Hope you all enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it.  Scott's final line I stole from the old animate X-Men series, though it was originally Xavier's.  Still, it seemed fitting.  Obviously Jean's fiery nature from X2, since she -is- going to be Phoenix.  And I've got something rather interesting planned for Spyke, but its coming up in the next chapter.  'Uprising' was awesome, but I have two complaints.  One, they introduced Leech, so now my whole story is pointless!  Two, they threw off every single theory I had about Apocalypse by making that second energy sphere.  Damn them!  Other than that, it was frickin' awesome (my highest possible rating).

Rogue14: Poor everybody?!  They're mutants again!  Nobody messes with the mutants.  Still, they're not out of the woods yet.

Emerald Lightning Goddess: I told you, Spidey will show up again, briefly.  But this is an X-Men Evolution story, not a spider-man.  Hope you liked the battle though.  I've got a few more chapters left, mostly an epilogue and wrap-up.  That's about it though.

Todd fan: I thought you'd like that.  Plus, it just strikes me as something he'd say.  His lingo's so whacked.  Hehe.

CC Grayson: There, hope that'll keep you alive for a little longer.

Comet-hime: I dunno about this Generation X, I only know Leech as a Morlock, so obviously that's where he's going once all this is over with.  I'll toss in some more Tabitha/Amara at the end when I wrap everything up, never fear.

P-Chan5: Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa.  Damnit calm down there, take some sedatives or something and reeeelllllaaaax.  This story is almost finished, so you can enjoy it all you want.  Until then, take deep breathes, in and out, ja?

Chaoscat: I know, Arcade and Forge both get overlooked, so naturally I made them the instrumental heroes in my story.

~*Britt*~: I don't think three is all that many questions, really.  Hopefully this chapter answered them.

Gyuumajo: Cute.  Hope those 'gears' survived that.

Unknown Source: That enough action for ya?  Sappiness and angst to come, though I you'd be surprised at some of the sources.  As for Arcade, I too was once something close to a computer geek, so I emphasize, and I wish I'd had more time to expand upon his character.  And of course I promote equality between mutants and humans.  Or did you think my favorite Evo couple being Kurt and Amanda was pure coincidence?

TallieCat: That enough wicked awesomeness for ya?

Calamari Rings: Lance is there, fret you not.  Glad you like the story, I love some of that artwork on your website.

Mayra: I've seen her eyes glow all sorts of strange colors, but mostly white, with tinges of purple or blue (lightning colors).  I agreed, Sins of the Son was a bit of a letdown.  Master Mold, in the comics, was a giant sentinel who basically made the other sentinels in his chest, hence his name.  He rebelled against his creators, Trask and Guyrich, same as mine has.  My version is more computer-like, and I've modeled this version after various other psychopathic computer-villain types.  Kurt and Amanda have a child in the comics, I think, called Bluebelle… though I doubt such a character will show up in Evolution.  Still, you never know.  The bo staff is an oriental weapon, but Remy is not oriental, he's Cajun (I think).  He's simply a man of the world.  And yes, you can go bo staves from most martial arts dojos.  I used to own one.


	23. XXIII

Down the corridors, the mutants and humans rushed.  Midway they ran into Mystique and her team, carrying the now pale-skinned, otherwise normal looking Leech, as the injured were given to those able to carry them and they all ran as fast as they could to the exit.  The klaxon blare of alarms throughout the entire base told them things were not yet over.  So did the countdown.

"Ten... nine... eight..."

Finally they reached the exit, but to their horror the great steel doors, three feet thick, was already lowering, and those unable to teleport or move at the speed of light (Quicksilver had already grabbed Magneto and Wanda in each arm and rushed out, leaving his comrades the Brotherhood to die) were not going to be able to make it out in time before the entire fortress exploded.  The steel doors continued to lower as the mutants and humans rushed as fast as their two legs could carry them.  Or in the case of Kurt and Rahne, four legs.  Bobby tried to ice a barrier, but the door closing mechanism was too strong and the ice splintered and broke... as did Spyke's spikes.  They weren't going to make it...!

Suddenly a gigantic hand grabbed the underside of the iron door as it nearly reached the ground, and then another.  The two hands lifted, and with a groan of protest the iron door slowly started to rise again, as their rescuer came into sight.

It was the Juggernaut.

He held the door open, arms raised above his head as he shouted at the stunned X-Men, telling them all to escape, now.

"Three... two..."

The last of them escaped and Juggernaut dropped the door as the captives rushed away from the fortress as fast as they could, running through the field and to the edge of the woods, diving towards the ground as a blast shook the entire area, and the mountain exploded in a blast that seemed nearly on-par with nuclear missiles.  The wind kicked up at the flattened form of the mutants and humans as a bright light overtook them and they all shielded their eyes.

Finally, it was over, and they reluctantly stood on rather shaky legs.

"Is everyone okay?" shouted Scott, glancing at the others.  Apart from some minor bruises and scrapes, the only truly injured member of any of the groups was Evan, who lay on the ground, bleeding through the hole in his chest.  Ororo and Callisto rushed over to him immediately.  Apparently the mutant's fashion had been the biggest casualty.  Burn holes, torn and ripped shirts, jeans and shorts.  Most were lucky to have any modesty left after the battle.

"There is nothing we can do for him... this wound is fatal," intoned Callisto quietly.

"No, there has to be something we can do!  Evan!  Evan, wake up!" shouted Ororo, shaking her nephew, but there was no response.  Evan Daniels was dead.

Or was he?  Despite his lack of motion, Ororo noticed his chest still moved up and down with a steady rhythm.  He was still breathing.  Suddenly Evan sat bolt upright, coughing blood as he looked around in shock, no doubt replaying the last few moments he'd been conscious when he was shot.

"Evan, oh thank the Goddess you're alright," said Ororo, giving her nephew a hug, careful to keep from injuring him further.  "But how can this be?"

Evan gingerly reached down, placing a hand over his chest, just left of the wound, which he covered with a spiked plate to keep from bleeding further.  "That's why..." he stated quietly.

"What?  What is it?" asked Ororo.

Evan guided Auntie O's hand over his chest, and she felt it too.  A second, steady heartbeat.  Evan had two hearts.  Even with the damaging of one, he was still able to survive, and given enough time his first could heal itself.  Evan reluctantly laid back down as the other Morlocks stood to one side amidst the trees, fearful of the other mutants gathered.  Only Callisto stayed by Evan's side.

Professor X, being supported as he was by Rogue and Gambit, watched with surprise as his half-brother, the unstoppable Juggernaut, turned and walked away from the battlefield.  Since his brother did not have on his helmet, Xavier risked a brief glance into his brothers thoughts, and found out this was his way of repaying a debt owed.  His way of saying thank you.

The area was suddenly filled with troops amongst the trees as two helicopters roared overhead.  It landed alongside the gathering, and out stepped Agent Nick Fury, smiling as Wolverine made his way over towards him.  Trask, already shackled with his hands behind his back, restrained by two SHIELD agents, was dragged out, glaring at Wolverine.

"Good to see you're alright, Logan," he stated, still chewing on a fresh toothpick.  "We've already rounded up Trask and his scientists, and with the testimony of those here we'll be able to put them all away for a very, very long time."

"I will be back!  I won't rest until the mutant threat is gone!" he shouted.  Wolverine growled, popped his claws and made his way over to Trask, holding them menacingly before the evil scientist.

"I got just one thing to say to that, bub," he said with a wicked, dangerous grin.  Trask sweated heavily, but refused to back down.  To his surprise, Wolverine retracted both of his outer claws, leaving only the middle one, which he saluted Trask with as if it was a gesture of extremely rude nature in most social circles.  Satisfied, he turned back to Fury as Trask was hauled away, grinning openly.

"You planned this all, didn't you Patch?" said Logan in response, folding his arms and growling slightly.  Fury smirked, reached out, and plucked a tiny black device that was attached to Wolverine's jacket.  He hadn't even noticed it before.

"I knew you all would never sit tight.  So we played cavalry," he said, tossing the device into the air.  Wolverine caught it, and crushed it in his palm.  If there was one thing he hated it was being used, but he supposed Fury had done right in the end.

"Any sign of Wraith?" he asked.  Fury shook his head.

"We're about to head in and clear out the debris, check for survivors... but I'm not too optimistic.  He'll be back though, won't he?"

"Guy's like a plague rat," stated Logan darkly.  "He doesn't die that easily."

"Well, on to more important matters," stated Fury, turning to face Magneto, who'd arisen next to his son.  "Concerning you..." Magneto gestured, interrupting Fury as his sidearm suddenly sprang free of his side holster, floated up in front of his face threateningly.  Fury didn't even bat his remaining eye.  "As I was saying, right now you assisted my men in disarming a hostile situation... so you and your men can go free.  This time."

"How noble of you," replied Magneto haughtily.

"Don't expect the same courtesy next time," replied Fury, still staring down his own weapon.  Beside him, Wolverine growled softly, and Magneto was in no mood for another fight.  Not right now, at least.  He gestured, and Fury's weapon returned to his hand, where he clicked the safety back on and returned it to its holster.

Magneto, with a whoosh of his black coat, made to depart.

                                                ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"All of you prepared to move out," stated Callisto, speaking to the Morlocks.  "We leave as soon as Spyke can walk."

"Now just a minute...!" interrupted Ororo, as the two women came face to face.  "Evan is coming home with me."

"The Morlocks are his family now, Windrider," stated Callisto, her one good eye locked with Ororo's, as the two women stared each other down.  Fortunately, Evan himself interrupted the two before it turned to an outright catfight.

"Auntie O... she's right... my place is with the Morlocks.  For now at least," he said quietly, leaning on a makeshift bone crutch.

"But we're your family, Evan," she said, motioning to the X-Men.  "We can also help you through this."

"None of you really understand me," he said.  "The Morlocks do... I'm sorry Auntie O," he said, stepping over next to Callisto and Façade as the other Morlocks vanished into the woodwork, heading back to the Alley.  Evan waved again to his aunt, as Faced took both Callisto and Evan's shoulders and activated his power.  They faded away from view, leaving Ororo heartbroken again she hadn't been able to be a good protector for her only nephew.  Worse, she hadn't been able to tell Evan how proud of him she'd been.

                                                ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Hey!"

Remy turned around to see the Rogue wandering over towards him, away from the others.  He leaned back against the tree he was near, smiling amiably.

"What can I do for you chere?" he asked.

"For starters you can stop calling me that..." she huffed in mock annoyance.  She was almost starting to like that name.  "But... I wanted to thank you for saving my life.  You and the others, if you hadn't come..."

"Think nothin' of it," he replied with a smile as he leaned forward and wrapped an arm around her waist, drawing her in close.  "But maybe I can get a bit of compensation for my trouble?"

"What?" she asked, very confused and very flustered.  True, no skin was touching his, but they were still entirely too close for comfort.  "What'd ya have in mind?"

"Just a kiss, Marie... that's all," he said with a playful smirk.  Rogue gasped, doubly astonished by both his request and that he'd found out her name.  Only the private records of Professor Xavier, plus a few select people, knew her real name was Marie Darkholme.

"But... but ah can't... mah mutation..." she started, feeling the tears starting to well up.

"Chere, can't isn't a word I like to use often," replied Remy, releasing her from his embrace and reaching into his trench coat, pulling out a thin, near transparent strip of silk, holding it before her lower face like a veil.  Without a word he leaned in, kissing her -through- the silk, full on the lips, and she could say and do nothing in response.  The kiss blew her mind.  This was better than Pietro.  Remy was gentler, more passionate.  There was no compare.  Thus she felt almost disappointed when the kiss came to an end and Remy deftly folded up the silk, handing it to Rogue.

"Don't be usin' that too much while I'm gone, chere," he said with a smirk and a mock-bow, starting to take off.  Rogue stood there frozen for a moment longer before regaining control of her motor functions and shouted out to him.

"Wait!  How did ya know mah... mah true name?" she called out after him.

"Oh that," he said, having the good grace to look sheepish.  "Ah well... let's just say your Professor needs to upgrade security on that Cerebro thingie.  Aur revoir."

Rogue smiled, then burst out laughing, as Remy took off to join the other Acolytes.

She'd never felt happier in her life.

                                                ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Magneto gestured at the shattered and broken barricade that had sealed off the fortress, remolding it to better suit his purposes as a gigantic metal sphere, the side of which slid open as he and his Acolytes boarded, Mastermind being supported by Colossus, though he paused at the entrance, glancing back at his one-time friend and now rival, Charles Xavier.

"It was good to fight alongside you once more, Charles," he stated quietly.  Charles nodded, and nothing further was said between the two, as the sphere's entrance started to close.  Suddenly a blue flicker surrounded the gateway as Wanda stepped forward, looking very, very angry.  Eric froze, unsure of what to do.  True, he was surrounded by most of his Acolytes, but Wanda now knew everything, and her power was damn near unstoppable.

"Father..." she said quietly.  Then her gaze flickered the Mastermind, who had regained consciousness and was watching the Scarlet Witch fearfully.  She gestured, and he was dragged forward before her.  "You... you are the one who replaced my memories..."

Mastermind nodded, gulping, terrified doubly of the daughter than the father.

"Do it again," she said quietly.  Mastermind could only watch with a confused look on his face.  "I would rather live the lie than remember all those horrible things... do a good job this time," she added angrily as she crossed her arms.  Mastermind wasted no time in complying, his eyes glowing blue and his fingers twitching as he re-wrote Wanda's memories to the happy times with her father he'd done once before.  This time, however, he had a better time of it since she wasn't resisting.  Now the memories would be so strong she would instinctively resist any attempt to be reminded of her troublesome childhood in the asylum.

Pietro, watching to one side, could only watch in horror, shocked at his sister and even more at his father, who allowed this.  He knew he'd done it once, but to do it now, at her request, to purposefully destroy her past twice.  He had a heart of iron.  Pietro wouldn't be terribly sad if he died tomorrow.

                                                ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"So where'd the girl go?" asked Fury.  Logan knew damn well who he meant.

"Dunno... lost sight of her after the explosion.  She could be anywhere by now," he replied.

"Think she's dead?" inquired Fury.

"I wouldn't be," Logan replied.  "What about the kid we found?"

"Dorian?  Unconscious... probably won't remember a thing once he wakes up.  We're gonna make sure that its back home with his mom in Bayville," replied Fury, tossing his toothpick aside as his teams moved to do just that, still rounding up the last of the scientists and soldiers who'd been working under Trask.

Little did the two know they were being watched.  Far away, normally the distance only an eagle could see a mouse running along the ground, X23 regarded her semi-parent and her former enemy with her enhanced senses, allowing her to hear and see them as if she was right next to them without being noticed.

She owed Logan a great deal for all he'd done that one night at the mansion, but today she'd more than repaid her debt.  They were even.  One thing she'd inherited from him besides his genes was his sense of honor.  Her debt was fulfilled now.  X23 leapt down from the tree as lightly and quietly as a cat and started running through the wilderness that covered the Appalachian mountains.  Leaping up and over rocks, running as fast as she could, just marveling at her own freedom, however temporary it was.  Tomorrow she could worry about her enemy, tomorrow she could worry about Hydra.  For now, she was grateful.

A rare smile graced the lips of the mutant known only as X23, as she took off running like a deer, the wind rustling through her long, dark brown hair.

                                                ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Mystique was preparing to depart as well with Agatha and Irene when Kurt made his way over to her.

"Mother?" he asked quietly, almost fearfully.  Mystique slowly turned around, while Irene and Agatha both instinctively sensed this was a private moment and stood to one side.

"Yes Kurt?" she asked.

"I... I just wanted to say thank you.  We... we all would've died if you hadn't come to save us.  Me, schwester Rogue, Amanda..."

"Amanda?" asked Mystique, raising an eyebrow and glancing over at the dark-skinned girl, who also stood to one side to give mother and son their private time together.  "The human girl?"

"Ve're all human, mother," said Kurt, suddenly defensive of the girlfriend who'd been brave enough to save his life.  "Even Master Mold said so.  You can't refute a computer's logic," he added with more characteristic good humor.

"Perhaps..." replied Mystique, still watching Amanda, who was looking at Kurt and showing none of the usual revulsion or fear associated with his true form.  "This... Amanda... knows what you truly look like?"

"Ja... and she accepts me for what I am," he replied proudly.  Mystique, upon hearing this, nearly broke down and cried, but managed to keep herself composed.  This was the reason she'd had to flee Germany, from Kurt's real father, and later from Eric.  Because she thought that no one would ever be able to love such a demonic-looking child.  As the saying went, she had thought Kurt had a face only a mother could love.  Now he had friends, and even someone who loved him more than Mystique ever had.

"I... see..." she managed to say without her voice cracking from emotion.  Though happy for her son, she couldn't bring herself to say it.  It wasn't who she was.  She never showed weakness to anyone, not even her family.

"Mother, come home with us... Herr Professor will accept you because your family to me and Rogue..."

"I can't," Mystique replied simply, turning her back on her son and on Rogue, who was running up to join them.  "I cannot face Rogue now... not until I've finished what I've started and saved us both."

Rogue rushed up just as Agatha, Irene, and Raven faded into the rising mists, vanishing from view.

                                                ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Those remaining made their way to the Blackbird, boarding it.  A number of drop offs would have to be included for those who did not live at the Institute, but it hardly matter as long as they were all safe.

"Hey Professor?" asked Kitty, as she made her way to his side.  "Can we like give the Brotherhood a ride too?  They deserve it for all they've done."

"Of course Kitty," he replied with a smile, wheeling his emergency wheelchair over to the boarding walkway, where the Brotherhood stood below.

"You are more than welcome to come with us," said Xavier diplomatically.

"Whatever," replied Lance as he and the other Brotherhood members boarded, reminding both the Professor and Kitty of the time after Asteroid M, when the Brotherhood had needed a ride as well (as if they would be able to walk their way home from where they'd been) but too stubborn (or prideful) to ask for any.

They all boarded the Blackbird, finding space for those without seats (Amanda wound up riding in Kurt's lap, much to both their delight) as Scott took the controls and lifted them up and off as they headed home.  Warren dropped out of the plane as soon as they reached New York, saying he's make the rest of the way on his own.  He spread his wings and flew home, lamenting the fact that he'd have little time to unwind before he had to go back to work on Monday.

                                                ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

As Irene, Agatha and Mystique made to split up and return to their respective homes, Irene suddenly gasped, her head snapping up.  Both of the other women recognized this as a sign the woman was receiving one of her visions.

"What is it Irene?" asked Mystique, steadying the older woman.  "What do you see?"

"I... I see..." she started to say.  Then it hit her, all at once, becoming crystal clear.

_... Rogue gave a roar of anger and slammed her palms hard into the stone statue of her mother, pushing it through the flimsy wood of the balcony as both her brother and Agatha watched in horror.  Kurt launched himself forward, as time seemed to slow with the statues descent.  Kurt teleported, arriving on the ground beneath the gazebo just in time to see the statue hit, and shatter.  "Noooo!" he cried, watching the many pieces shatter into more, beyond any hope of recovery..._

Irene suddenly snapped back into reality, rubbing her temples in an effort to calm herself.  She had not been able to see the statue's face very clearly, but whoever it was, she had sensed it had been of great importance to both Kurt and Rogue.

"I see your children, Raven... one will destroy something she holds dear, the other will fail to save it."

"Nothing more specific?" asked Mystique, curious as to the meaning of this new, strange vision.

Irene was about to say yes, but could not bring herself to.  Even if she did say that her friends anger and hatred would destroy her, would Raven listen?  Or would her daughter, Rogue, before she fell down the same path?  There was nothing that could be done to affect this vision.

"No... there was nothing else," replied Irene quietly.  Agatha, able to sense her lie, also said nothing.  She trusted the visionary enough not to say anything.

The three women parted ways, going back to their homes (those that had them) and returning to their usual business.

                                                ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

**Authors Notes:**

For the record, I don't know of Façade's power can affect more people than just himself, but for the purposes of this story I'm assuming he can.  The idea for Evan having two hearts most Morlock fans probably recognize as something his female comic counterpart, Marrow, had.  They discovered hers in a similar, painful, manner.  Remy kissing Rogue, bet just about everyone who isn't anti-Romy enjoyed that, but unfortunately the idea for the silk wasn't mine, I borrowed it from another fanfiction story I read way, way back based on the movie.  Also this chapter involves a lot of wrapping up prior to Dark Horizons, Impact, No Good Deed, etc. so I'm adding little scenes that explain why characters acted as they did in those episodes.  I also tried to do my best to slip Leech back into 'Uprising' without him being noticed.

Cryptic Identity: I know Starcraft, I used to be quite the Marine player.  What can I say, I love to 'call down the thunder' and 'reap the whirlwind'  Yes that was Leech in 'Uprising,' those blasted writers ruined my story!  Now it can never have happened!

Todd Fan: There will be more, but I think I'll hold off other original stories until the seasons end.  Don't worry though, there are many ideas bouncing around inside this near-empty cavern I call a skull.

Gyuumajo: That must be some mega tough gear?  You lacin' it with adamantium?

CC Grayson: Great, good to know.  We'd hate to lose you.

Rogue14: Oh?  Did I really?  Fooled you all, didn't I?  Muwahahahaha!

Rictor: Answer your question?

Optic Red: I have to chalk that up to watching entirely too many cartoons/anime.


	24. XXIV

Sunday evening came and went, and then another typical Monday morning erupted at the Xavier Institute for Gifted Youngsters.

Basically, pure havoc.

One by one they started to wake up, shower, dress and make their way downstairs.  Logan was already up and in his customary seat in the kitchen on the window ledge, drinking his coffee and reading the morning paper.  The other students filed in quietly.  Ororo finished off her bagel and traveled up to the loft, to visit her plants.  Smiling, she stretched out her hand to summon a miniature rain cloud to water them for the day, relieved when she actually managed to pull it off this time, and watered her plants, giving them a little extra water because of their long, thirsty weekend.  Like her, they preferred fresh rainwater.

Rogue was up and about, a smile playing on her lips as she amiably helped out at breakfast, passing things around and generally being so happy that Logan half-suspected she'd been taking something other than aspirin.  Still, a quick sniff confirmed no such scent around her, so he largely ignored her, chalking up her happy attitude to his usual explanation for weird things at the Institute.  Kids being kids.

"Hey Bobby," whispered Ray, nudging his companion discreetly.  "Is it just me or is Rogue showing more skin than usual?"

"Ain't just you... but what're we to complain?" replied Bobby with a smirk, settling back to watch Rogue, who was wearing only one layer of make-up and actually left her arms bare today, though her customary black gloves were still in place.

The breakfast continued with its usual fast pace as the students finished their meals, grabbed their packs and headed towards the bus stop or those privileged few to ride with Jean (since Scott's convertible was still undergoing repairs).

                                                ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Kurt Wagner lay in his room, on his bed, sobbing into his pillow.

Life wasn't fair!  He'd finally been normal!  And now he was a freak again... cursed unable to ever be accepted back into society without that verddamit holowatch shackled to his wrist!

A knocking at the door interrupted his misery and he raised his eyes, bleary red with tears at the sound.

"Hey Kurt come on, you're gonna be late... we like, only got a week left you know, we might as well put in an appearance."

"Go away!" he grumbled, slamming his head down against his pillow once more.

"Kurt?  Kurt, come on, what's wrong with you?" asked Kitty as she phased through the door and into the room.  Seeing her friend she immediately froze, then crept over to the bed and sat down on the side, laying a reassuring hand on the poor elf's shoulder.

"Kurt come on... this has been hard on all of us..."

"Nobody has any idea what I've gone through..." he grumbled back up at her, his voice muffled from the fabric of his pillow.

"Kurt..." she said comfortingly.  "There are mutants that've gone through worse... I mean look at Rogue.  Now she's..."

"You don't understand!" he all but shouted at Kitty, who leapt off the bed in shock.  "I was normal!  I was human!  Nobody was pointing and screaming, demon, burn it, kill it!  Even you screamed when you first saw me!  For the first time... I... fit... in..." he said, slowly descending back into sobs.  Kitty hesitated, unsure of what to do.  She was no psychologist, and Kurt was right, she'd never been through the sorts of things he had.  But there had to be a way to cheer him up... there was.  Kitty grimaced, knowing she was likely to regret saying this.

"Amanda didn't scream," she said.  Kurt's sobbing paused, as he lifted his head.  "And she's waiting for you at school... are you really going to disappoint her, you fuzzy elf?" she asked with a smile, which Kurt returned.  It wasn't his pointed-ear-to-pointed-ear grin but it was a sincere smile, and Kitty was glad she could help him.

"Alright alright I'm coming... but I guess I'll just 'port directly to school, save Jean the trouble of finding more space in her SUV."

"Better teleport behind the gym," added Kitty, as she started to phase her way back out of the room.  "I think Duncan had plans to beat up some kids in that alley you prefer, best avoid them."

"Ja... thanks Kitty," he said, as she left and he gathered his things for his last week of school.

With his liebchen, Amanda.

                                                ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Scott and Jean sat in the convertible as they waited for everyone else to arrive, stealing glances at one another but trying not to look to obvious.  As a result, they looked more obvious than ever.  Finally, Scott broke the silence.

"Well, we, uh... certainly had an interesting weekend..."

"Yeah," replied Jean.  "You must be upset though."

"Why's that?" Scott asked.

"Well now you still need to wear your sunglasses... it must've been nice not to need them, even for a while," she said.  Scott chuckled lightly.

"Actually, I never felt more nervous in my life... I'm just... so much more used to dealing with this.  Its part of who I am, Jean," he added quietly, knowing she'd understood.  And to his relief, she did.  She smiled back at him gently.

"But there is one thing I'm glad happened this weekend," he stated quietly.

"What's that?" she asked.

"I finally got to find out what color your hair is," he said with a smile, reaching out to run a hand through her crimson, silky locks, as she blushed softly and smiled.

"And I finally found out what color your eyes were," she replied, tapping the rim of his ever-present sunglasses.

 The tender moment was interrupted as Kitty and Rogue came running up the driveway towards the SUV and Scott and Jean jerked away, still unused to public displays of affection, as they immediately looked away from one another and found other, much more interesting things.  To their disappointment.

                                                ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Beast was up and at 'em in the main hallway, handing out backpacks as the New Recruits stumbled, ice slid, or propelled themselves down the stairway and out the door to make it to the bus, finally finishing the very last one, Amara, and then knuckling his way to the elevator to return to his work.  True, he no longer was called upon to investigate the strange phenomenon that had nullified mutant powers, but he was still a very busy mutant.  He had to continue his investigations into the third key that Mesmero was searching for.

Beast sighed, like everyone here, he'd been at least a little glad when his powers had vanished and he'd been normal, but he'd come to accept who and what he was.  Kitty had shown him being a mutant with his particular physical changes didn't make him a beast, or a monster, it was simply part of who he was.  He was who he was meant to be.

Quoting some vague Shakespeare, he returned to the lab, archived the files on mutant nullification in the Institute's records, and then called up the Mesmero file to delve a little deeper into that.  He seemed to recall something about a third key being known as 'formless and malleable, able to mimic pure power' and wonder what that could be.

                                                ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The Xavier Institute for Gifted Youngsters opened its door as its students filed out to return to Bayville High for their education.  On their way a certain blue car being driven by a certain blonde-haired jock raced past them, as the passengers threw some empty soda cans at Jean's SUV, then sped off laughing.  Scott, sitting in the passengers side, was not particularily shocked to see his old buddy Paul and even Taryn riding with Duncan.  Though it was a pity those two hung out with the low-life.  The mutant passengers, though irritated beyond measure, kept their cool as they parked at Bayville High and made their way back to classes for the final week of school.

None had ever been more happy to be both mutants, and X-Men.

                                                ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

**Authors Notes:**

This chapter and the next are the epilogue, so they're decidedly short, and just tie up a lot of loose ends before Dark Horizons.

Emerald Lightning Goddess: Sorry, Sabertooth can't keep 'em.  If he wants more he has to get them on the Evo show.  Glad you liked the Spyke-is-Marrow two-hearts thingie and the Rogue-Remy kiss, that was my favorite too.

Wylk: Oh ye of little faith.  But yes, I agree with you.  I used to hate Evan, but this new version of him is frickin' awesome.  Probably because there's no skateboard anywhere near him.

Jenny08: Sure, I'll let you walk it on the weekends, how's that sound?

Todd fan: Of course I wouldn't kill him off.  He's turned frickin' awesome in Uprising.  I actually like his character now.  More Spyke!

Mousy188 or Calicat: Yeah, but when I made that I hated Jean.  Plus, she's not -dark- enough to be Trinity.

Mayra: Dorian was Leech, as near as I can tell.  Yes I had bo staff, I gave it away to my brother when I lost interest in staves and got more into swords.  I dunno, I rather like what Spyke's become.  He's the hardened warrior-type now, like Wolverine.  About Scott's eyes, like in the Cauldron, I suspect they're dark because nobody bothers to zoom in and get a better look.  The episode was called 'Uprising' because it dealt with human troubles as much as it did with Spyke.  Spidey's next episode for his dramatic five-second return.  You can see him then.

Elisabeth Braddock-Grey: Not over yet.  One chapter left, mostly with wrap-up.  Your fav character Psylocke makes a brief appearance.  It is not over until the fat mutant sings! *glances around for Freddy, but thankfully he's still in rehearsal*

Gyuumajo: As I keep telling everyone, next chapter is last.  Enjoy.

Glaivester: Thanks for the input, let me see if I can clear things up a bit.  One, I made some errors with that chapter, Leech went home with Fury and his SHIELD team.  Before I saw Uprising, I'd planned on having my own Evo Leech join the Morlocks.  He wasn't suppressing anyone's powers after he was removed from the machine because he was unconscious, and still developing.  His powers haven't manifested like in Uprising, they were being amplified by the device Trask and Wraith built (based on Magneto's enhancement chamber technology).  As for Trask and his Sentinels, if he ever gets the chance in a story of mine, yes of course he'll upgrade the suckers.  But you saw how hard that prototype was to take down.


	25. XXV

At Bayville High...

Amanda was opening her locker, idly pondering her newfound fate as a pair of hands descended over her vision, covering her eyes.

"Guess who?" came a voice.

"Since I happen to know only one boy who's german and who's hands are furry, even when covered by a hologram," stated Amanda with a smirk, not yet turning around.  "You must be... my boyfriend!" she cried triumphantly, as she turned around and hugged Kurt, who hugged her back, the two taking comfort in one another's presence.  So long they received a number of jealous stares and various comments under the breaths of those passerby.  'Get a room' seemed a popular suggestion.  Kurt and Amanda ignored them, having eyes only for one another.

"So everything's back to normal?" asked Amanda.  Kurt replied by coiling his holographically invisible tail around her waist and giving a playful squeeze.

"Ja, everythings... as it was," he said quietly.

"You're not sad are you?" asked Amanda gently, well aware of Kurt's painfully low self-esteem.

"Nein, liebchen... I just wish everyone could see me the way you do, and my family does,"  he replied with a smile, taking her arm as the two walked along to math class.

"Someday they will," she promised.  "'til then, you always have me."

"Oh ja, how did your parents take the info that you're a latent mutant?" he asked curiously.

"They don't know Kurt... I'm not sure they're ready.  Please, its hard enough on them I still want to see you, this might not be the best time."

"Ja... okay, Amanda... if you need me let me know, I'm always there for you," he replied, giving her hand a squeezing, interlacing their fingers (hers in something close to a Vulcan salute to equal his two digits).  She smiled, and kissed him on the cheek, making them both blush.

                                                ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Elsewhere at Bayville High...

Kitty Pryde wandered down towards her class, smiling to herself, her ponytail bouncing as she skipped along happily.  Jean had promised to take her out for a driving lesson later, she was acting so nice!  Then again, everyone seemed pretty happy today, sans Kurt.

And Rogue, she mentally added, catching sight of the goth girl.  Thinks must've hit her hard if she couldn't touch anymore.  Kitty was about to call out Rogue's name when she caught sight of her face.

She was _smiling_.

Rogue so rarely smiled it was like a special occasion at the Institute, and she did it even more after Scott and Jean had become a couple.  It had practically ceased to happen after discovering Mystique was her mother.  Yet there she was, smiling, almost giddy, and Kitty had to blink and do a double-take to make sure she'd spotted the right girl.

"Hey Rogue," said Kitty, coming up alongside her, unsure of what to say.

"Kitty, what's up?" asked Rogue, smiling.

"Nothing, just thought I'd, uh... check on you... see how you were feeling..."

"Ah feel wonderful," replied Rogue, walking alongside Kitty with her head held high, as if nothing could bring her down.  She was walking on air.  Kitty smiled, and decided to forgo the rest of her questions, since Rogue seemed fine.  She just hoped it would last.  The two girls separated, going their respective ways to their classes.

                                                ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Elsewhere at Bayville High...

Scott and Jean finally separated to go their respective ways to their classes, and Jean smiled to herself, feeling the warm, loving thoughts of her boyfriend even as she sat down for her American Literature class, their link back and stronger than ever, and it was almost like she could feel him next to her.  It felt comforting, and a welcome relief from being alone in her own head.  Scott probably would feel the same way, though he'd never know how much of a relief it was being able to hear little snippets of peoples thoughts again, having her powers restored.  And more importantly, she felt safe, if ever need came for her to defend herself, she could do it now.

                                                ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Elsewhere at Bayville High...

In computer class Arcade, as he was known amongst his peers, was back at working programming his latest project for C++.  He was on cloud nine, his own private heaven, and he could safely say he'd had the best weekend of his entire life.  Nevermind he'd saved the world from an insane super-computer, nevermind he'd been able to fight alongside mutants and superheroes.

He'd gotten his first kiss!

The pretty Chinese girl who'd left the Institute, on the flight home, had been so thankful he'd come along to rescue him had been ever so grateful she'd kissed him on the cheek before she departed the plane in San Francisco to rejoin her family, giving a wave and leaving Weber in a near comatose state all the way home.  He had no idea it would feel so wonderful.  Of course, he was a boy, and a young one, but his life had always been in the virtual world of games and computer programming.  Heck, even Risty couldn't gain his attention, and she'd been well regarded at Bayville as a flirt and a tease.

In the game he was playing in the sidebar (out of his teachers notice, of course) he'd once again whipped the bad guys down.

"Your kung fu is not strong," he remarked with a smirk.

Life was good.

                                                ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

In the Principles Office at Bayville High...

Kelly sat at his desk, pondering the latest information he'd received from Professor Xavier regarding the attendance of his students.

Loss of their powers because of human conspirators.  Garbage, in his humble opinion.  It was just another mutant trick to catch normal people off guard before they were all destroyed.  Kelly pondered, running over his records.

Since the first soccer game at Bayville, Kelly had kept tabs on all members of the Xavier Institute and the Brotherhood, recording any and all strange instances that occurred around them.  Since learning they were mutants, he'd even gone into as much detail as he could about all their powers, though certain members, like Kurt Wagner and Pietro Maximoff, were proving difficult to pinpoint.

Then there was that blue demon that lurked around the school, and Hank McCoy.  Kelly knew damn well that psychotic ape was hanging out at the Institute too, instead of locked up in a cage where he belonged.  And more mutants surfacing, it was becoming difficult to keep an eye on all of them, let alone keep regular students safe.

What they needed, was a way to keep track of the mutants.  Register them, somehow.

Kelly sighed and turned back to his real work, that of preparing the school for the last week of school.  Thus, for the past few days he'd been carpooling with Dorothy to avoid any desecration to his car, and had set up some additional security guards for any and all students, especially the mutants, who might try public property destruction before the final day.

That done, he returned to writing his graduation speech.

                                                ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

At the Brotherhood of Bayville boarding house...

The expelled mutants began their morning ritual of rising, which involved a messy fight over any and all breakfast material not immediately claimed by the Blob.  Even then, some his cereal seemed to find its way into Toad's mouth.  Lance sat in the kitchen while the others migrated into the living room to watch their Monday morning cartoons, including their all-time favorite the Powderpuff Gurlz.  Which Todd and Fred had been talking about, very noisly, and arguing over whether or not it was indeed a rip-off on the Powerpuff Girls.  Lance personally didn't care, he did was he was told, nothing more.  Now that Pietro was back in charge, his life was going to be hell again, so he resigned himself to it and simply ate his cheerios, and did his best not to try and think about pink sweaters and brown ponytails.

For the most part, Wanda sat alongside Toad, much to his delight (provided his hands didn't stray) and watched the cartoon, thinking back to those she'd watched in her childhood.  Yet it was always this fuzzy blur, nothing clear, like a happy dream.  Still, she could enjoy the here and now, at least.

Pietro, to one side, watched her with no little worry, as his sister started to sink into a blissful fantasy world in her own mind.  She wouldn't listen to him, he realized.  She wouldn't listen to Toad, this time either, and he'd been there.  Plus, Pietro had dug his own grave by convincing the slimy mutant it was better Wanda stayed at the Brotherhood house, and now he likely wouldn't tell her anyway.  Pietro sighed, and wondered how his life had become so miserable.

                                                ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

At the Acolytes warehouse just north of Bayville...

Colossus sat to one side, doodling while the others milled about, waiting for Magneto to return with instructions.  Doubtlessly, his would be simple.  Pick up anything heavy and move it to where I tell you.  It was typical of Colossus's orders, but right now it left him free to continue his hobby, putting pencil to paper and making images spring forth.

Yet it was –her- face again.  And worse, this time he'd added another face beside it.  His own, the two locked in a kiss.  He sighed, and was about to tear up the traitorous parchment (For how else would his boss see it?) when he stopped, gently tore it off and placed it inside his armor for safekeeping.  He could always dream, he supposed.

Remy too, was dreaming.  Day-dreaming, to be precious.  About auburn and white, about hard green eyes, and about their one, brief kiss.  Best he'd ever had, and he'd had quite a few in his day.  Ironic, he thought to himself, that the one girl he'd fall in love with hadn't fallen for him first.  And he'd never be able to get too close to her, or give her everything she wanted.  Ah, mischievous cupid, well struck, mon ami.

Mastermind lay sleeping in the makeshift medical bay, since his wounds had not yet healed.  If anything, they'd grown worse during the battle with the sentinels, though he'd thankfully managed to escape the fortress long before the fight got underway, no one had noticed.

Magneto returned then, and set the Acolytes to work, including Sabertooth who had just returned, saying only he'd been "busy" when the fortress exploded.  Not truly caring about the savage mutants fate, Magneto set him to guarding the warehouse, in case some one was actually foolish enough to try and attack them, and sent the cackling idiot Pyro to join him once the red-head had suited up again with his flame-throwers.

Magneto now had a new weapon, as he strolled into the back and opened a tiny vault with his magnetism, drawing out the fangs of a certain individual crafted out of solid adamantium, unbreakable.  It had hurt like hell, but Sabertooth was glad to be rid of them, they had reminded him too much of being someone else's weapon, so he'd forcibly torn them from his mouth, given them to Magneto.

Magneto now could put them to better use.

                                                ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Somewhere on the road...

Logan drove along on his red motorcycle, helmet down.  Though his adamantium skull could've protected him from any serious injury, and even that would heal in a matter of seconds, he always wore a helmet to avoid unnecessary pain.

Right now he just needed some downtime, so after the kids had left the Institute he'd given Charles his typical 'going for a ride' explanation, grabbed his bike and zoomed out as soon as the gates opened, heading in no particular direction and with no particular destination in mind.  It was liberating, somehow, not to have anywhere to go, to just wander around at breakneck speeds on his motorcycle.

It made him forget, for a brief time, that he was a mutant, that he had adamantium laced along his entire skeleton, and that he had no idea who'd done it to him or why.

It was relaxing.

                                                ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

In New York City...

Warren Worthington the III opened the door to his balcony, stretching out his arms and his wings, as he then folded the white plumed appendages around his shoulders like a cape to keep him warm in the chilly morning air.  Sipping his coffee, reading the morning news, he smiled to himself, glad that finally everything was as it should be.

Except his stock, it seemed, judging from the latest.  Ah well, he'd have to work on that.

                                                ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

In Florida...

Mr. and Mrs. Masters watched from their spot on the beach, as their adopted son Alex rode out for another chance to surf back to the shore.  He'd returned the other day with a story that, had they not seen the other mutants on board the blackbird, they might not have believed.  As it was, they were grateful he'd returned, alive and intact.  He'd all but forgotten about it, content to return to his lifestyle of surfing, after he'd bid farewell to his brother, Scott.

It would be a shame, once Alex decided to go back to the Institute with his brother Scott.  But they knew it was inevitable, ever since he'd had his last name legally changed back to Summers.  He was drifting apart from them, though they were proud of what he'd done.  They were going to miss him when the time came.

                                                ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 

Elsewhere in New York City...

Two soldiers, not yet captured by SHIELD, continued to stalk their prey, wandering down the alleyway, the way he'd run.  Yet there was no sign of him...

The attack was so sudden and brutal neither registered it, their quarry moving with inhuman speed, strength, and precision, as he disarmed them and beat the living tar out of them, rendering both unconscious.  They awoke hours later, to find themselves hanging from a makeshift web several feet above the alley floor.

Peter Parker, already back at Empire State U, back in the apartment he shared with Harry, sighed and ran his hands through his hair, lamenting his fate, as if it was forcing him back to the role he'd tried to throw into the river.  The role of Spider-Man, of the hero.  But a hero who is hated, a hero who destroys and damages those around him.  It was not a life he wanted to accept.

But did he really have any choice in the matter left anymore?

                                                ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

In an isolated part of the Rocky Mountains...

Agatha Harkness sat alone in her room, a simple one-story hut that served its purposes, being that she only slept her, and occasionally worked her magic.  She generally did that outside, however, for most of her spells tended to create a foul stench.

One of the last witches of Salem sat pondering Destiny's latest vision.  Though powerful, the witch could not see the future, nor alter it as she pleased.  Magic simply did not work that way.  That is why Agatha worked primarily alongside others, like her friend Raven, or her apprentice Wanda.  They were the real players in the world, she was merely an observer.  Here, isolated, none would bother her unless she wished them to.

Agatha stretched out her very, very old bones, and lay back on her bed, falling asleep, murmuring in her dreams as she finally relaxed after a long weekend that had taxed her body to its limit.

                                                ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

In Kenya, Africa...

Nirambo smiled to himself, lifting his head as the heavens filled with gathering storm clouds, and rain lightly drizzled down upon the ground, bringing much needed water to a land that had for the past few days been parched and dry and inhospitable.

He smiled, giving thanks to the true Goddess who blessed his tribe, and made his way inside to gather his tools, for he was as much farmer as he was shaman, and the landed needed his guidance to grow food for the people.  Others joined him, singing praise to the wandering Goddess who doubtlessly blessed them again.

Nirambo knew in his heart Ororo was not the cause of the rain, nor the drought, but still he'd been very unnerved the past week, fearing for her safety for unknown reason.  Instincts.  Instincts he trusted as a spiritual man.  They'd guided him before, when the Hungan had attacked his good friend Ororo, and had helped ultimately to save her.  Thus, it warmed his heart to know, deep down, everything was once more as it should be.

                                                ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

At Castle McFadden...

Lucas strolled amongst his peers, laughing and talking, flirting with the lasses who seemed eager to cling to his arm as he made his way into the castle.  Lucas grinned to himself, stretching out a hand and shifting the door open, making his way inside alone.  He didn't have much time, had to return to the mansion before David's mother got suspicious... or worse, David woke up.

It was extremely vexing to have to put up with that insufferable snot-nosed kid.  But still, soon Ian and he'd be able to take care of all of this.  They just needed a little more time to put everything into place.

Lucas launched up into the air, darting down and away from the castle, flying low so the other party-goers wouldn't notice he'd left, he didn't want to arouse suspicion just yet.  Then he floated down to the mansion that was Gabrielle' Haller's home and opened the bedroom window, slipping inside and closing it.

"Wakey-wakey, David," he said.

David awoke, his heart pounding, and looked around.  No one was there.  Just his imagination.  He must've just been sleep-walking, he thought, as he lay back down on his bed, and tried to sleep.  But ultimately he couldn't, and thus he got up and headed downstairs for a midnight snack.  Maybe that would ease his troubled mind.

                                                ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Elsewhere in Bayville...

Forge continued to work on his latest invention down in his laboratory, in the basement of his parents house.  Admittedly, it wasn't a situation that he was proud of, but he wasn't exactly able to go back to Bayville High and ask if he could be reinstated as a student, after being gone for excess of three decades.  So he remained here, helping out around the house with his inventions.  He'd also gotten a part-time job down the street as a mechanic, though he found he enjoyed inventing infinitely more than repairing.

There, finished.

Forge slapped the newly created bracelet onto his right wrist and held out his left hand, concentrating hard.  To his joy, he'd been correct, his mechanical arm could not form.  He'd create a mutant suppression bracelet.  The design needed a little fine tuning, he thought as he slid it off, to make it more durable, but on the whole, it worked.  So far it only was able to suppress energy powers, not physical mutations, but it'd still make a nice gift for Rogue, once Forge managed to work out the kinks.

Humming merrily a tune that was rarely played on the radio except as part of the 70's at 7, Forge returned to work.

                                                ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Elsewhere in Bayville...

Dorian was sitting in front of the tv, watching the news on reports about mutant disappearances the past weekend.  His head hurt, especially after he'd woken up.  And he'd had really strange nightmares, about these strange men who kidnapped him and transformed him into something green and ugly, transformed him into a mutant, and made him hurt others.  Mom said he'd been sick all weekend, sleeping in bed, that was all.

He believed her, of course.

His head ached again, and he pressed his temples to it in a vain attempt to ease the pain.

                                                ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

In Caldecott, Mississippi...

Irene sat at her porch, listening to the sounds of nature, pondering her latest vision.  Always, when she looked consciously to the future, she could see only darkness.  And worse, it was growing.  The world was rapidly becoming a hostile place.

Suddenly a footstep, to soft to be heard by most sighted people, caught her attention.  She did not turn her head, but she listened intently now.  Three boys, very young, by her hedges.  Whispering about her.

"Think she's a mutant?" whispered the first.

"Nawh, lookit her, she's normal..." whispered the second.

"Mutants are freaks, all of 'em, they're big and blue and ugly monsters," whispered the third.

"But she can see stuff, and she says she's blind... maybe its her mutant power..." countered the first, bringing a smirk to Irene's lips.  Her mutant power gave her no sight, she was no more endowed than any other woman with her handicap who was willing to learn new ways of seeing.

"She's a freak, I tell ya... watch this!" said the second, tossing something.  Irene raised her cane, batting the thrown ball of paper aside, then turned to regard them from behind her black sunglasses.

"Get off my property," she said quietly, almost sweetly, though she might have been her friend Raven in her reptilian form, for all the effect it had.  They took off like a shot, leaving her alone again.  But they would draw their own conclusions now.  The blind woman was a mutant, and a freak, and should be destroyed.  Irene sighed, for once grateful her visions gave no indication of her own fate.  She did not want to know.

                                                ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

In a hidden facility, somewhere in Europe...

Omega Red opened his eyes, as he stepped out of the re-heating chamber, stretching out limbs he hadn't used in ages, pleased to see he was still in tip-top shape as when he'd been cooled.  Madame Hydra and Gauntlet waited for him in the Hydra facility.

"Ah, excellent... Omega Red, velcome back to the living," she said, a smirk gracing her poisonous green lips.

"It feels good to be back in action," he replied, his Russian accent thick.

"Excellent," she replied, beckoning Gauntlet to activate the computer console.  Her green-skinned companion did so, bringing up the profiles of Wolverine and X23.

"Let us make a deal, Omega Red," cooed Viper, in a voice that often meant the doom of many an enemy.  "X23 for your arch-enemy... Weapon X"

                                                ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Deep in the Himalayas...

Apocalypse shifted in his eternal slumber, his mind free to roam once more, though his body remained withered and useless to him until his servant broke down the doors and restored his power.

_What progress, Mesmero?_ He asked telepathically.

_Much, oh great Apocalypse.  I have found the third key, and she is more than willing to assist you, provided you grant safety to her and her offspring._

_It will be considered_, rumbled Apocalypse, though in truth he did not care.

_And I have found -her- my dread lord.  The girl who will restore your power.  It will be a simple matter to control her, with the shapeshifters aid._

_Do it.  Bring them to me, I am impatient to be free._

_Then I would beg but only a week more, Apocalypse.  That is all the time I shall required_, replied Mesmero.

_Then... then I can finally begin_, stated Apocalypse, severing the telepathic link and returning to his dreams and pesudo-thoughts of world domination and destruction.  With the Eye of Ages and his power restored, it would be a simple matter to reach the pyramids.  And then everything would fall into place.

                                                ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

In San Francisco...

Jubilee wandered the malls, glad no one recognized her as a mutant now that she no longer attended the Xavier institute.  It made it a lot easier for her to shop.  Still, she did miss her friends.  Meeting them again had been fun and all (discounting nearly getting killed by those stupid sentinels) but it wasn't the same.  Her parents had been relieved when she'd finally come home though.

Passing by a nearby window, she spotted a pair of pink sunglasses, and immediately headed in, deciding to buy them.  Maybe she'd find something else at the mall she could send back to the Institute, as a way of saying thank you.

                                                ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

In Canada...

In the darkness and gloom of his fortress, Colonel Wraith steepled his fingers, sitting at his desk, watching the computer screen flash names and profiles in front of him.

Wolverine.

Sabertooth.

Maverick.

And many others.  His mutant-killers, all of them escaped, all of them lost to him... for now.  Just as Sabertooth and that infernal imbecile Trask had been unable to kill him, nor would death stop him until his dream had been realized.  Though, he thought as he winced, a particularly long scar now gracing his side, it would take longer than he anticipated.

Weird, sick laughter echoed through his facility, though only the spider-robots were there to listen.

                                                ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

In London...

Sinister grinned, eagerly, happily, as his work continued uninterrupted.  His pale skin shone in the torchlight, as it shined on the forms of his prisoners and his subjects, those he would glorify by making supreme beings.  His red eyes glinted evilly as he stood, making his way over to his subjects, and regarded them as a zoologist might regard some of his test monkeys.  For that was all they were.  Subjects for him to use, exploit, and create into the ultimate super-mutants.  The next stage of evolution.

His work continued.

                                                ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

On Muir Island...

Rahne leapt forward, nearly knocking over the much older, red-headed woman that was her guardian, as the two hugged whole-heartedly, glad to be reunited.  Rahne quickly shifted to her wolf form and bounded off to find the others, leaving Moira to simply sigh and shake her head, though she was smiling.

It was good to have the little lycanthrope back.

Moira sighed, running her hand through her hair as Rahne bounded on ahead as happy as the dog some mistook her for (a mistake not soon to be repeated).  Moira smiled, decided today would be an excellent day to take a break from her research and just spend some time with the child in her care.

And maybe later, with Kevin.  If he was feeling well.

                                                ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Elsewhere in London...

Betsy smiled amiably as she returned to school, tossing the keys of her car for the weekend to the same astonished jock who she'd liberated it from.  Before he could utter a word of protest her fist glowed violet as she slammed her psi-blade into his neck, and he remembered nothing of her stealing his car.  He'd "lent" it to her.  Giggling to herself, Betsy brushed back her violet bangs and wandered down the halls to find her friends.  She had quite a story to tell them about where she'd been the past weekend.

Betsy smiled to herself, but inwardly she was cold with dread.  She did not yet know what had happened to her, nor would she ever suspect the truth.  She only hoped that whoever had decided to take her down, simply for being a mutant, would get the clue she'd left by Stone Henge (six armed soldiers lying unconscious with her boot mark on their stomachs) and leave her alone.  She didn't want to cause more trouble.

                                                ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

In the Morlock Tunnels...

Spyke sat alone, staring off into the darkness.  It was too expensive to find batteries, most lights the Morlocks used were candles and lanterns, and those that were still up were with at the Alley with the Morlocks who needed them to see.  He didn't.  Though he had no super-senses, he could still hear Callisto walking up quietly behind him, laying a hand on one of his spiked shoulders.

"Evan, I worry about you..." she stated quietly.

"I'm fine Callisto," he replied, equally quiet, his hand rubbing the skeletal carapace covering his wound, feeling the double-heartbeat.  His original heart was starting to heal itself.  Evan supposed that his slightly faster than average healing and double-hearts had something to do with his spikes.  Like maybe all that calcium he drank had to be rapidly sent throughout his body, but he was not a scientist.  Hell, he barely took a physics class in his life, so he had no idea.

"Just do not strain yourself, Evan... we still have need of you..." she stated quietly.  _I have need of you_, she thought, though she did not voice it aloud.

"I won't fail any of you," stated Spyke quietly, placing his hand over hers.  Then he and Callisto both turned as Stall tugged Spyke's leg, smiling happily as she held up his skateboard, offering it to him.  It was common knowledge Evan liked to skate when he was upset.

Spyke smiled, but he declined the skateboard, offering it back to the little girl, and tossed her his helmet and knee pads.  He couldn't wear them anymore anyway.  Stall beamed, gave a little cry of joy as she raced down the corridors and started immediately to practice on her newly acquired toy.

Spyke and Callisto watched with smiles on their faces, and both reflected on life in the sewers was not always that bad.

                                                ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

And all around the world...

Various mutants gave thanks their powers had been restored, while not more than a few cursed the horrible disease that had returned after being lifted, as they all found ways to continue to live their lives in a world that feared and hated them.

                                                ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

**Authors Notes:**

And that's a wrap!  For the final record, allow me to clarify the mutant Leech in regards to my story and Evolution.  Leech was the green, scaley, black-eyed mutant that nullified everyone's powers, but only because he was 'enhanced' by the device Trask and Wraith built.  After it was destroyed, like Scott and Alex, he reverted back to normal.  That is why he was pale-skinned when he was dragged out by Mystique, Arcade and Forge.  He was returned to his mother with no memory of this story's events, so he can still fit nicely back into Uprising.

Hope you all enjoyed, I know I sure as heck did.  Thanks to any and all who reviewed, I loved your input, it helped shape my story into what it is.  Though I've quickly learned not to ever make a story on quite this grand of a scale again, and thus in future I think I'll focus on smaller, more distinct groups for my stories.  And thank the writers of Evolution for bringing us such an awesome show.  Special thanks that I simply must extend include:

Skolio: Thank you for writing the story 'KiBlind' which was ultimately responsible for encouraging me to write this.

Scribbler: Thanks firstly for leading me to Skolio's 'KiBlind' but also for being such a general encouragement and inspiration with your own XME stories.  You really are talented.  Oh yes, and for blowing up my review board with that self-destructing review.  Cute.

Elisabeth Braddock-Grey: Thanks deeply for assisting me in beta-reading some of the more vital segments of my story, for giving me enough suckers, cheezits, coke and other such foodstuffs to outlive the X-Virus, and general support.  Psylocke will show up in Evo, if everyone just believes!

Snitter in Rivendell: For the wonderful first review.

Todd Fan: For, well, being generally insane and lovable.

Glaivester: For knowing more about the comics and old animated series of X-Men than most, and being kind enough to keep me informed and updated.

Faith Darkholme: Being one of my oldest supporters, and also providing me with information about Bastion (may another fic, dearie).

Son of Logan and Ororo: Reminding me of the lethal nature of adamantium and putting up with his sister X23.

Ilyana Rasputin: For encouraging me to write just a little bit more about her big bro and the little kitten.

Andtauriel Longwood Baggins: For showing me that I really can write good romances.  And also for their rather hilarious Pirates of the Caribbean in Five minutes.  That cracked me up.

Chaos Cat: Much obliged for the very long review concerning my work, it was very helpful, and also since you seem to enjoy my work so very much, thank you.

Emerald Lightning Goddess: For giving me my first plushies, even though I still suffer from the delusion the XME characters are real.

Cryptic Identity: For pointing out my errors, and helping me to correct them.

Unknown Source: For actually bringing up any number of ideas that could allow me to make a sequel to Nullification, and providing generally good, thorough reviews.

P-Chan5: For overwhelming my review screen and showing just how much some people rely on fanfiction to survive (don't feel bad, I'm one of them)

Mayra: Thank you for actually thinking I have half a chance at being a writer.

Glaivester: For such insightful, meaningful and through reviews, that helped to shape this story into what it became.

Silver Spider: For understanding the real depth of X23, whom frankly scares the heck out of me.

SapphireMind: Thank you for proving that great minds really do think alike (even if we're both crazy) for coming up with the same idea (if under different circumstances).  Hope you enjoy the rest of my story when you finish.

Linda Keena: For making your first review for my story, that's flattering.  And if you liked my Kurmanda, you should read the next author's stories.

Internutter: For being such an incredible writer, and giving me inspiration to use for the Kurmanda in my story, and also giving a little inspiration to write in more about Jamie.

Cydne Clark, Sean Roche, Steve Granat, Greg Johnson, Boyd Kirkland, Christ Yost, Bob Forward, Marsha F. Griffin, William Forrest Cluverius and Craig Kyle: For coming up with such brilliant episode plots for X-Men Evolution.  You guys are so much more brilliant than me, you keep up the good work.

Gyuumajo, Rogue14, HathorCol, Epona, Optic Red, Soul Eater, Caliente, Kurt Wagner, Rogue Pryde, Xrex, Cal, Goofn1, *B, Victim, Spontly, Gumdrop Boo, GryffindorSeeker, Thunderfox150, Tomoe, TallieCat, Tazmanian Devil, Jenny08, Sashi, Rain, Sharpsnout, Arekanderu, Drakensis, Wykd Maverick, CC Grayson, Comet-hime, Silver, Calamari Rings, ~*Britt*~, Rictor, Wylk, and All the Others Who Read This: Thanks, and hope you enjoyed it, but judging from the many frequent reviews of 'update!' and 'more!' I think my work is done... for now.

Scott, Jean, Rogue, Kitty and Kurt: For just being such wonderful characters to write about, as well as watch on my Saturday mornings.


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